Despite strong popular criticism of the current state of security in the West Bank, security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel is likely to continue.
On Sept. 28, Palestinian media reported on a Sept. 9 meeting in Ramallah between Hussein al-Sheikh, who is the chief of Palestinian Civil Affairs in charge of coordination with the Israelis, and Yoav Mordechai, the Israeli government coordinator in the Palestinian territories. At the meeting, Mordechai praised the Palestinian security apparatus, stating the “West Bank is the only region with stability and calm amid a region that is full of security risks such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Gaza.” He also declared that Israel will allow additional Palestinian military forces in the West Bank because Israel has new information about certain Palestinian parties who intend to attack Israeli settlers.
In addition, Mordechai thanked the commander of the Palestinian National Security Forces, Maj. Gen. Nidal Abu Dukhan, for the security information he provides regarding the situation in the West Bank, as well as his intelligence activities in neighboring countries. However, he complained about the weakness of security cooperation with the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, headed by Maj. Gen. Ziad Hab al-Rih.
It is no secret that security cooperation between the PA and Israel is one of the pillars of their relationship. At the height of tensions and political deadlock between the two, security cooperation continued. This is perhaps why the PA is convinced that in order to remain in the West Bank, cooperation must stand. Breaching cooperation or changing its mind would mean the beginning of the end of its existence and an implicit declaration of an open confrontation with Israel, which the PA does not seem to want, at least for the time being.
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