President of the State of Palestine President of the State of Palestine The President of the State of Palestine is the head of the State of Palestine. He is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority. Both functions were held by Yasser Arafat from 1989 and continued until his death in November 2004, and was continued by his successor Mahmoud Abbas. In May 2005, the PLO Central Council asked Abbas to perform the duties of the President of the State of Palestine. In November 2008, the PLO Central Council approved the continuation of Abbas's function as President of the State of Palestine. On 15 November
History of the State of Palestine the Six-Day War, the movement for an independent Palestine received a boost in 1964 when the Palestine Liberation Organization was established. Its goal, as stated in the Palestinian National Covenant was to create a Palestinian state in the whole British Mandate, a statement which nullified Israel's right to exist. The PLO would become the leading force in the Palestinian national movement politically, and its leader, Yassir Arafat, would become regarded as the leader of the Palestinian people. In 1969, the Fatah movement, accepting as a "fait accompli" the presence in Palestine of a large number of Jews, declared that it