(Daily Beast) Neri Zilber and Ghaith al-Omari - According to official Palestinian figures, in 2017 alone over 500 Israelis strayed into Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank; they were all detained safely by PA security forces and returned to Israel unharmed. This is only one facet of Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, which also includes intelligence sharing, counterterrorism, deconfliction during Israeli military raids into PA-controlled areas of the West Bank, and riot control. Israeli and Palestinian officers are in constant contact to discuss common threats in the West Bank. Working to interdict attackers during the eruption of "lone wolf" terror attacks in 2015-2016, by the end of 2016, PA forces were responsible for a third of all terror suspect arrests. The PA also works to stop large-scale demonstrations from escalating. It's not an accident that, in the two months since President Trump's December speech recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the level of unrest on the ground has been tepid. A senior Israeli security official said security coordination with the PA has actually grown closer since Trump's speech.
2018-02-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive