U.S. presses Israel for concessions to a weakened Palestinian Authority
Monday, February 23, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
TEL AVIV Ñ The United States has been pressuring Israel to offer additional goodwill gestures to the Palestinian Authority to bolster its support in the West Bank.
Israeli security sources said the Defense Ministry has received messages from the State Department and the office of U.S. envoy George Mitchell to draft proposals for the security handover of additional West Bank cities to the PA.
The sources said the Americans have determined that the PA was capable of additional security responsibility and must prepare for a surge in Hamas support in 2009.
"The Americans believe that any Israeli gesture to Hamas must be equaled if not exceeded by concessions to the PA," an Israeli source said.
The sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has urged the United States to extract Israeli concessions in the West Bank. In the first step, they said, Abbas wants Israel to transfer security responsibility to the PA for the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
Abbas has been the target of sharp criticism from within Fatah, including members of its Central Committee. The sources said the PA chairman, accused of grooming his son as successor, has been urged to form an emergency government and reconcile with the Hamas leadership in Syria.
"Abu Mazen [Abbas] is very scared that he will be seen as the stooge for the Israelis and Americans," another security source said. "Already, the man is scared to leave Ramallah."
In 2008, Israel handed over security responsibility to the PA for the cities of Jenin, Nablus and most of Hebron. The PA deployed National Security Forces and Presidential Guard troops trained by the United States outside of Amman, Jordan.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has been consulting with the military regarding the proposed transfer of Tulkarm to PA security responsibility. The sources said the military's Central Command has opposed the move and warned that the PA was not ready to assume control over Tulkarm, located along the 1967 border with Israel.
The sources said Israel was preparing to release more than 1,000 Palestinians in exchange for Cpl. Gilead Shalit, abducted by Hamas in 2006. They said Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank, including leading former Fatah secretary-general Marwan Barghouti.
On Feb. 21, the PA said it would not negotiate with any Israeli government that did not support the establishment of a Palestinian state and a freeze on Jewish housing in the West Bank. Abbas was said to have relayed this position to the United States and other members of the so-called Quartet, which consisted of Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
"Any Israeli government that rejects the two-state principle and the previously signed agreements and [rejects] pledges to halt settlements, lift the siege and closure, will not be a partner of the PLO, and there will be no political negotiations with it," PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said.