"They come back full of bravado and don't feel the rules apply to them,"
the source said. "At this point, we're not talking about mass violations, but these things have a way of snow-balling."
Over the last two months, the military determined several violations by PA security officers in Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank, Middle East Newsline reported. In one case, a PA officer, deployed in Bethlehem, was arrested near the Jewish city of Efrat with his assault rifle.
The PA officer was interrogated, and said he had left Bethlehem to inspect an accident on a major highway. The sources said the officer was released but the rifle was confiscated.
The sources said a major concern of the military was that Palestinian residents who live near Jewish communities in the West Bank would hire PA officers for armed missions. Such a scenario included the use of PA officers in Fatah attacks on Israeli interests in the region.
More than 2,100 PA security personnel completed training in Jordan since 2008. The officers learned skills as counter-insurgency, anti-riot, light weapons and respect for human rights.
Currently, PA security officers and police have been restricted to Arab-populated cities in the West Bank. The PA has sought to expand the area of security operations and responsibility.
In 2009, the Israel Army agreed to enable the PA to deploy police in some West Bank towns, termed Area B. In some cases, the Arab towns neighbor those of Jewish communities.
The sources said the expansion of the PA security deployment has resulted in a reduction in Israeli operations in the West Bank. They cited the likelihood of a clash with PA security forces combined with the prospect of a protest by the United States.
In the West Bank city of Kalkilya, two Israeli soldiers and a PA security officer were injured in a shootout in 2009. The shootout took place during an uncover operation by the Israel Army and police.
