Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned, admitting that he could not get sufficient power from long time Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat to work out a peace deal with Israel. Arafat refused to let Abbas have control over several key Palestinian security organizations. Arafat also kept control of the Palestinian treasury. Arafat receives billions of dollars a year from Arab and European  groups, including governments, individuals and charities. Arafat has kept tight control over these funds and doles them out to those who are loyal to him. The major terror organization, Hamas, opposes Arafat because of the corruption that has grown up around this Palestinian treasury.  But money is power and Arafat has both.