Following a deterioration in relations between the PA and Israel in January 2002, Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti lobbied Jibril Rajoub, chief of the PA security forces, to release Abdullah Barghouti.
After Wazir's assassination by Israeli commandos, he became a close lieutenant of Arafat, and was allegedly behind a 1992 plot to assassinate Ariel Sharon.
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He also studied Zionism and Hebrew extensively, and together with a cellmate, translated "The Revolt" by Menachem Begin into Arabic.
Jibril Rajoub, with whom he cultivated a deep and personal rivalry, claimed in 2003 that everybody knew Dahlan was an Israeli agent.