PLO to halt security coordination with Israel: Official

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday that Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) decided to halt security coordination and reconsider the economic relationship with Israel, without setting an implementation date.

“The decision of the PLO Central Council is clear and needs no explanation; it has decided to suspend halt security coordination and reconsider the economic relationship with Israel,” Erekat told Palestinian Radio, adding that the decision is binding.

“We no longer proceed with a one-way relationship with Israel, which pirates [Palestinian] tax revenues and violates all agreements, including security ones,” Erekat said.

He went on to note that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had left on a tour to Arab and European countries following the meeting of the PLO’s central council.

“Abbas is scheduled to return home today and is expected to meet with the PLO’s executive committee to implement the decisions of the central council,” Erekat said.

Earlier this month, the Central Council, the PLO’s top legislative body, decided during its session in Ramallah to halt security coordination with the self-proclaimed Jewish state. They however require Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to confirm the decision to cancel a relationship that he has previously described as “sacred”.

The 1993 Washington-brokered Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority made it necessary for the latter to prevent attacks on Israel from the occupied territories and exchange information on security matters.

The PLO’s Central Council is responsible for setting policy when the Palestinian National Council – the legislative body that brings together all Palestinians, including those in the occupied territories and Israel – isn’t in session.