ABSTRACT
By 1973 changing political configurations in the wider Arab world and growing impatience with the Israeli occupation began to have an impact on political and social developments in the West Bank. Despite economic assistance from Jordan, West Bank Palestinians began to turn against the King because of his repression of the PLO, especially during the 1970-1971 "civil war." In January 1973 the Palestine National Council decided in secret to establish a National Front in both the West Bank and Gaza as the political base for a future Palestine state. In the period between 1973 and the second West Bank municipal elections in 1976, the PLO and the Israeli government appeared to be competing for influence over the Palestinian public. The Palestine Communist Party, a remnant of the pre-1967 Communist movement in the West Bank, functions underground and its leaders were active in organizing the National Front.
