After the Palestinian Elections.
Don't expect a sea-change when Abbas succeeds Arafat.

Quotes:

It's not as if Abbas is actually changing his tune; he's simply emphasizing, as any candidate would, his fealty to the core beliefs of the vast majority of his electorate — beliefs which the U.S. media and administration have tended to ignore in their bid to project a fantasy persona onto Abbas as the White Knight who will deliver Palestinian consent to Ariel Sharon's peace terms... It'll be a lot harder for Israel and the U.S. to strike a political deal with a democratically accountable Palestinian leader than with an authoritarian national symbol such as Arafat — although such a deal might be far more durable. The Palestinian election season that begins on Sunday, runs through the legislative elections due in the Spring and extending to the internal Fatah elections that have been promised for August, are an instance of an emerging Arab democracy in action. And in the Palestinian territories, just as in Iraq, the U.S. may have to get used to the idea that the outcome it produces may not be exactly what Washington had in mind.