[ad_1]
A surprising announcement by the Palestinian Authority of the resumption of security coordination with Israel, months after it spoke about cutting off that coordination due to Israel’s plans to annex its settlements in the West Bank and the strategic area of the Jordan Valley.
The decision was met with various reactions, either from the Palestinian or Israeli side, while observers claim that coordination between the two sides was not interrupted at all and that the recent Palestinian announcement was intended for media consumption.
Israeli political analyst Eddie Cohen described the Palestinian ad as “lies” and said: “They only advertise this to mislead people, but it has to do with the flow of money.”
“The Palestinian Authority is playing with the security coordination mechanism to receive funds from the Israeli and European parties,” Cohen added in an interview with Al-Hurra.
The Israeli writer Amir Oren agrees with the same opinion, who confirmed to Al-Hurra that the security coordination between the two parties has not been interrupted.
Oren believes that the Palestinian announcement of the resumption of relations with Israel represents a welcome to the election of the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, who is expected to be installed as president of the United States on January 20 in case the election results are fully ratified.
The Israeli analyst added: “There was nothing new behind the decision. The (Palestinian) message was that we refused to cooperate with Trump and the annexation plans, and since that ended, let’s get back to work.”
Last May, the Palestinian Authority announced the severance of its relationship with Israel, as a form of protest against the US peace plan in the Middle East, which US President Donald Trump unveiled in January.
And Israel gave the green light to annex the Jordan Valley, the strategic area that makes up 30 percent of the West Bank.
The Jordan Valley, or Jordan Valley, is a strip of strategic border territory that stretches from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The Jordan Valley is primarily located in the area classified “C” or “C” of the land of the West Bank that is under the control of Israel, which plans to annex it.
Relations deteriorated after the Palestinian Authority announced in May that it was refusing to receive the fiscal funds that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority.
This caused a large budget deficit for the Palestinian Authority, which is struggling to cope with the spread of the new Corona virus, and can no longer pay the salaries of its public employees, settling to pay half their salaries.
Economic reasons
Palestinian writer and analyst Jihad Harb believes the main motive for announcing the resumption of security coordination is to allay Palestinian fears, albeit shortly after the annexation decision was postponed, in addition to Biden winning the elections.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he “looks forward to working” with Biden’s team “to improve” relations between the United States and Palestine and to ensure “justice and dignity” for the Palestinians.
On the other hand, the Islamic Hamas movement that leads the Gaza Strip condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to resume security coordination and demanded that it “immediately rescind the decision and leave the bet on Biden and others.”
Despite Palestinian optimism about Biden, observers believe that Biden’s policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian dossier will not differ much from Trump’s, while 91 percent of Israelis believe that Biden will maintain US support for Israel. .
Another reason that he sees as a war pushing the Palestinian Authority back into coordination is the difficult economic conditions within the Palestinian territories and the Authority’s inability to provide services, including the salaries of employees in Palestinian administrative bodies. .
Regarding the allegations of the interruption of communication between the two parties, Harb comments, saying: “The communication was not completely cut off, but was present to the minimum possible.
For his part, Imad Rahma, the Palestinian political researcher and consultant to the Masarat Center in the Gaza Strip, believes that the Israeli guarantees for the return of relations are “gambles and illusions of the Palestinian Authority … whose failure has been proven after more than twenty years of negotiation. “
The Palestinian Authority announced the re-coordination with Israel “in light of Israel’s commitment to comply with the agreements signed” with the Palestinian side, as announced on Tuesday night by the Minister of the General Authority for Palestinian Civil Affairs, Hussein al -Sheikh.
