Special to WorldTribune.com

RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority has established police stations
around Jerusalem, claimed by Israel as its capital.

Over the past 18 months, the PA Interior Ministry has quietly set up two
police stations along the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The first station was established in the Jerusalem suburb of A-Ram just outside the city’s
municipal boundary. The second began operating in Biddu along the Israeli
highway from Jerusalem to the center of the country.

“The Israelis were not asked and did not formally respond to these police stations,” a PA source said.

The police stations were established under a European Union program to bolster the PA security forces. The PA has sought to build at least 30 stations in the West Bank as part of an effort to increase law enforcement.

Both Jerusalem-area stations are located in Area B, where the PA retains civilian control with Israel responsible for security. So far, Israel has not requested the removal of the PA police stations.

“There is something of a blind eye being turned to the establishment of the stations,” a senior Israeli government official told the Jerusalem Post.

“Israel does not want to have to send its own forces inside, and the
Palestinians are looking to extend their reach and authority. In the
meantime, everyone benefits.”

Israel is said to have lost authority over areas of eastern and
northern Jerusalem in wake of the construction of a security wall that
divided several Arab communities of the city. In some cases, the
municipality was replaced by the PA in providing services, including police.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel was likely to formally approve
the police stations as part of a series of concessions to PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas to renew direct negotiations. A-Ram contains
about 70,000 people, up to half of them with Israeli identity cards.

  A-Ram, Area B, Biddu, Mahmoud Abbas, No objections from Israel as Palestinians establish police stations near Jerusalem, PA Interior Ministry