Mohammad Yusuf Dahlan[1] (Arabic: محمد دحلان, also known by the kunya Abu Fadi (أبو فادي), born 29 September 1961) is a Palestinian politician.
The former leader of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, Dahlan's power there as head of the Preventive Security Force was at one time so substantial that the territory was nicknamed "Dahlanistan".
Seen as a favorite by the George W. Bush administration to be Mahmoud Abbas' second-in-command, Dahlan was appointed by the latter to head the Palestinian National Security Council.
[8][9] In 2001 he upset Yasser Arafat by beginning to call for reform in the Palestinian National Authority (PA) and expressing dissatisfaction with a lack of coherent policy.
[13] He repeatedly tried to campaign on a reform and anti-corruption ticket and tried to profile himself as an outspoken critic of Arafat, although many observers dispute his personal integrity.
[16] This appointment was considered by some a deliberate step to weaken Dahlan's position before the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza strip and sparked massive protests.
Dahlan took a tough stance against Hamas,[18] calling their election victory a disaster and threatening to 'haunt them from now till the end of their term' and to 'rough up and humiliate' Fatah supporters tempted to join the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
[23] Dahlan was a Fatah representative in negotiations which resulted in the Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement of February 8, 2007, in which both sides agreed to stop the military clashes in Gaza and form a government of national unity.
[24] Dahlan organised paramilitary units of several thousand fighters trained with American assistance in Arab countries, and lobbied Israel to allow Fatah forces in Gaza to receive large shipments of arms and ammunition to fight Hamas.
The Americans provided money and arms to Dahlan, trained his men and ordered him to carry out a military coup against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
[28] The resignation was little more than a formality, since Mahmoud Abbas had issued a decree dissolving his national security council immediately after the Hamas takeover of Gaza.
[39] A senior Hamas official told Al-Hayat newspaper that the two provided logistical aid to the Mossad hit team alleged to have carried out the assassination, renting them cars and hotel rooms.
Dahlan developed a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi in 2014 and President of the United Arab Emirates in 2022.
[44] In 2016, Turkey placed Dahlan on its the "most wanted terrorist list", offering a $700,000 bounty, accusing him of involvement in the failed 2016 Turkish coup attempt.
[46] Foreign Policy reported that Dahlan was influential in developing the Abraham Accords, the U.S. brokered agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain in 2020.
He said in an interview "We, as Palestinians, must realise that the two-state solution has completely ended, and is no longer feasible on the ground because of the Israeli inflexibility and due to the measures that Israel has taken over the past 30 years.
[52] He has also been criticized for his good relationship with Arafat's long-time financial adviser Mohammad Rashid and Dahlan's own London-based business.
[55] Dahlan has also faced criticism regarding his role in Gaza turmoil, especially in exchanging hostilities with rival security forces commander Ghazi al-Jabali.
[56] Dahlan was accused of initiating a smear campaign against PA Civilian Affairs Minister Hussein Sheikh in September 2012, when the latter was alleged to have been involved in a sex scandal with a female employee in his department.
The Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Dahlan of being an agent of Israeli intelligence and a financial backer of the Gülen movement.