Israel approves armoured jeeps for PA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman approved the delivery of five armoured jeeps for the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces, with the vehicles transferred in the early hours of Monday via the Allenby Bridge.

According to the report in Haaretz, an unnamed senior Israeli official described the move as “unusual”, and which “comes amid a deteriorating security situation in the West Bank.”

The paper stated that Lt. Gen. Frederick S. Rudesheim, the US security coordinator, “made the delivery happen by working with the Palestinian security coordinator, Israeli security coordinator Yoav Mordechai, Central Command chief Roni Numa and Jordanian security.”

The PA had apparently been requesting Israeli approval for the armoured vehicles for four years, but Israel had refused. Haaretz notes that “the Americans supported the request and the Jordanians agreed to supply the vehicles.”