PA official: CIA chief’s visit aims to restore US ties with PA

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has welcomed the visit of CIA Chief William Burns to the region, an official has said, noting it aimed to repair US relations with the PA, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.

“The visit shows that the Biden administration is serious about restoring Washington’s relations with the Palestinians and strengthening the Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas,” the official, who was not named by the Israeli newspaper, said.

“The Biden administration’s policy toward the Palestinians is very good,” the official said, claiming that the Palestinians are “very satisfied” with the Biden administration’s policy of “strengthening” the PA.

“The Palestinian Authority is facing a sharp financial crisis and we need urgent aid,” he said. “Failure to support the Palestinian Authority means that Hamas will come to power in the West Bank.”

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The paper highlighted a report by Arabi21 which revealed a “secret agreement” that allows the US to increase its intervention in the internal affairs of the PA. America, the deal says, is to help the PA “impose strict control over Palestinian media and educational curricula and reactivate the tripartite American-Israeli-Palestinian anti-incitement committee.”

Several news sources have reported that the US and Israel have been working to repair the PA in order to avoid its possible collapse as a result of ongoing popular protests, the deteriorating economic situation and political and administrative corruption.