Yoni Ben Menachem
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jan. 30, 2023
“Abbas is playing with fire in his decision to stop security coordination with Israel.”
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrives in Israel this week to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to calm tensions and put an end to the recent violence. One of the main issues that Blinken will discuss will be the Palestinian Authority’s announcement of the cessation of security coordination with Israel.
Abbas chose to announce his decision in a vague way that would allow him to subtly retract. His spokesman, Nabil Abu Roudeineh, announced that security coordination no longer exists as of now but refrained from explicitly stating that the PA had stopped it.
In practice, PA officials claim that regular meetings between IDF officers and Palestinian security forces officers have been stopped, but both sides understand that it is only a matter of time until contacts resume, as soon as the situation calms down.
The PA is trying to claim to the Palestinian street that the cessation of security coordination is the Achilles’ heel of the Israeli security establishment and that if it ceases coordination, Israeli security will be seriously harmed. However, this is not the case.
It is true that security coordination with the Palestinian Authority helps Israel in its war against terrorism in Judea and Samaria. However, since the Oslo Accords and until today, Israel relies only on itself in this area. We have already seen the “revolving door” policy of Yasser Arafat, who arrested terrorists and immediately released them. In this regard, Abbas is not like Arafat, but Israeli governments have since learned to trust only Israeli intelligence.
The Israel Security Agency does an excellent job in the war on terrorism regardless of the security coordination with the PA. Therefore, the PA will lose more than Israel if it stops the security coordination. The PA maintains the security coordination mainly to ensure the continuation of Abbas’ rule. …. [To read the full article, click here]