Washington has pledged $80 million dollars for training members of the Palestinian security services, the State Department in Washington announced Sunday. According to the announcement, instructors from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security will begin carrying out exercises with Mahmoud Abbas’ Presidential Guard in the fall. The courses will run through early 2008 and will take place at the Presidential Guard facility in Jericho.
The move represents a change in tactics for Washington, which until now has used the CIA to train PA soldiers. PA security forces trained by the CIA recently failed to stop a Hamas take over of the Gaza Strip.
Terror victim groups slammed the decision saying money provided to the PA in the past has been used to fund terror attacks against Israelis.
