Israeli Official: ‘Security Coordination’ with PA Never Been Better

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Photo: File)

An unnamed Israeli security source told Al-Monitor this week that the “network of security coordination” with the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank has never been better.

The remarks come as PA President Mahmoud Abbas made new threats to end so-called “security coordination” with Israeli occupation forces.

The Israeli official said in reference to Daesh:

“The main thrust of the Israeli effort is to maintain the stability of the PA and to assist it in overcoming internal and external threats from Hamas and cells associated with the Islamic State.”

The source told Al-Monitor:

“In return, they do everything they can to prevent attacks by individuals or groups that could get the Palestinian Authority into trouble with Israel.”

One recent “sign” of the continued close coordination cited by the report was the arrest this week by Israeli occupation forces of Alaa Bashir, a Quran teacher who spent 73 days in PA detention.

Arrested first by PA forces – “apparently on the basis of information provided by Israel” – Bashir was subsequently released after a public outcry, only to be rearrested and freed twice. Now, the Israeli military has arrested her itself.

In another sign of the continued PA-Israeli military ties, cited by Al-Monitor, PA security forces spokesperson General Adnan Al-Damiri was spotted at a café in Jaffa on July 23 – despite having had his VIP papers – and permission to enter Israeli territory – revoked in October 2014.

“Damiri’s sighting is further proof that the real relationship between Israel and the PA is not what the two parties relay to their respective constituents,” Al-Monitor stated.

(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)

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