What’s new with Salaam Fayyad these days?

Two related stories in the news recently caught my eye. First, Israel Central Bank governor Stanley Fischer’s bid to head the International Monetary Fund picked up the endorsement of Salaam Fayyad, who’d worked at the IMF for years before entering Palestinian politics. He commented that Fischer is “supremely qualified for the job. Indeed, it’s difficult to see how one can be more qualified.”

To me, this is what is different about Fayyad — he doesn’t tie the Palestinian aspiration of independence to the automatic denigration of anything Israeli. Two years ago, commentators said Fayyad was clever but politically unknown. Today, he is the most popular and effective leader the Palestinians have. Fayyadism represents the best chance for their statehood.

Fayyad’s non-zero-sum approach is one reason why Hamas opposes his nomination to be the Prime Minister in a Fatah-Hamas unity government. (Mind you, Fayyad is not even a member of Fatah.) If Hamas is as pragmatic as its apologists claim, then they will certainly revert course and back Fayyad.