Of all the achievements the Palestinians and Israelis have achieved despite the moribund peace talks, security cooperation in the West Bank has allowed for a tense, but mostly peaceful, co-existence. However, that cooperation is now being threatened by the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation and the announcement that 3,000 Fatah military personnel will be transferred from the West Bank to Gaza to join with Hamas forces there. According to reports, this comes as part of a secret “security clause” in the agreement between the two Palestinian movements that would bring an end to security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Barely six months ago, Israel defense experts described the Israel-West Bank relationship as “the best security cooperation we’ve had in years.” That comment came after Palestinian security forces arrested three Hamas terrorists in the West Bank.
Recent reports revealed that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to induct Hamas into the Palestine Liberation Organization – the body that signed the Oslo Accords with Israel. Abbas is also going to let Hamas hold on to its weapons. The terrorist organization is retaining its rejectionist stance against international demands that it join the peace process by first renouncing violence, accepting previous accords signed by the Palestinians, and recognize Israel’s existence.
The years of security cooperation are threatened by the reconciliation, since continued cooperation “would be unacceptable to Hamas.”
The Arab press is toeing to standard refusal of pushing peace, saying that instead of cooperating with Israel to reduce violence Abbas should “instead, be seeking security cooperation with Hamas.”
Adding to the threat is the fact that “Islamic Jihad would join Hamas as part of the formal Palestinian leadership if the [reconciliation] deal were implemented.”
Washington Post veteran reporter Jackson Diehl noted that “security cooperation works in the West Bank because Israel and the Palestinian Authority share an interest in combatting Islamic extremists.”
That point is now the central problem for Israel, because Fatah-Hamas reconciliation means the Palestinian Authority will now be partnering with those exact Islamic extremists who reject the entire peace process and have been clamoring for armed conflict.
[Photo: Islamic Jihad Website]