Security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been renewed, but no official announcement was issued — nor is one expected. Al-Monitor had learned about it from Israeli defense sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. On July 21, at the height of the crisis triggered by the shooting death of two Israeli policemen at the Temple Mount compound, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared he was suspending security ties with Israel. The move was intended to prove to the Palestinian public that Abbas was taking a tough line with Israel over its placing of metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif site, a move perceived in the Arab world as a violation of the fragile status quo there.

Abbas had initially not intended to halt security coordination with Israel. When Palestinian journalists asked PA officials whether the suspension of ties with Israel included a stop to the security coordination, the officials hemmed and hawed and did not provide a clear answer. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah understood that absent an unambiguous announcement to the effect that the security ties had also been halted, they would not be able to appease public opinion. Abbas then made a dramatic announcement in which he said that he was freezing cooperation with Israeli security echelons until things at the site return to the way they were. But even after Israel removed all its new security devices, continued public pressure made it hard for Abbas to officially announce that business with Israel was back as usual.

Security officials on both sides say the coordination between them has foiled dozens of terror attacks against Israelis in recent years. But so as not to be perceived as caving in too easily, the Palestinian president presented Israel with a set of demands for renewing security ties. These included a clear Israeli pledge to stop raids into the Palestinian controlled Area A of the West Bank to carry out arrests of Palestinians wanted for questioning. The Palestinians also demanded that Israel ease the passage of Palestinians into Israel and through the Allenby Bridge from the West Bank to Jordan (including the deployment of Palestinian police alongside the Israelis conducting security checks at the crossing). Still, no one in the PA was surprised when Israel rejected these conditions out of hand.

Palestinian security officials, especially intelligence chief Majid Faraj who is considered a moderating influence on Abbas’ circle, understood that the suspension of the security ties with Israel could not continue for long. The coordination serves the interests of the PA, too. Israel’s well-developed intelligence apparatus regularly passes on sensitive information to the heads of the Palestinian agencies, who use it to thwart domestic threats to Abbas and the PA’s stability.