Israel worried about future security coordination with PA

For Israel the most worrying aspect of the Palestinian unity government is the future of security coordination with the Palestinian Authority, which is a matter of conflict for the main parties involved in the new government, Fatah and Hamas. The deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas and the head of the Hamas delegation in the reconciliation, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said the movement signed an agreement which canceled security coordination, which will not resume under the unity government.

Hamas had also considered security coordination as serving the security of Israel only and accused Abbas of collaborating with Israel against the organisation and other resistance groups.

Maariv newspaper that dealt with the subject through a report published on its website quoted the words of a member of the Committee on Palestinian reconciliation Dr Mustafa Barghouti saying that the powers of the Minister of Interior for the security agencies in the unity government, which will be announce today, will land in the hands of the Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, pointing out that the security committee composed of Fatah and Hamas will decide the policy of the security services in Gaza and the West Bank areas which are under Palestinian Authority control.

The newspaper quoted the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, as saying that security coordination is the first issue that must be stopped in the wake of the reconciliation agreement. It also quoted the spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Adnan Demeiri, saying that the Palestinian leadership is completing an in-depth study into the possibility of stopping security coordination with Israel.

The unity government will be announced today after overcoming the obstacles that have emerged in recent times, particularly the issue of Riyad Al-Malki, who Hamas accuse of cooperation with the Jewish judge Justice Richard Goldstone, in the drafting of the report that bears his name, and attacked Hamas in several public forums, as well as the subject of closing the Ministry of Prisoners.

In the meantime, despite Netanyahu’s calls for the international community not to recognise the unity government which includes Hamas, which Israel deems a terrorist organisation, Israel is keeping a close eye on the development of the new government especially on its position on the issue of security coordination with them.