(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to allow 600 armed Palestinian Authority policemen into the northern Shomron city of Jenin - though he knows it does not jibe with the requirements of Israeli security.

Explaining his decision this morning, Barak said, "We have overriding responsibility for the security of Israeli citizens, but in order to improve the chances in our talks with the Palestinians, we must try to make things easier for them - even at the price of a calculated risk."  He spoke at the IDF Induction Center in Tel HaShomer, near Tel Aviv.

Barak plans to inform PA prime minister Salam Fayad of the decision in a meeting with him tomorrow (Wednesday).  The Defense Minister will make it clear that security responsibility for the area will remain in Israeli hands.
 
Successful Model in Shechem
A similar model has been in operation for several months in Shechem (Nablus), where 500 armed PA policemen patrol the streets during the day.  "They deal only with regular law-and-order issues, and they are notably disciplined," Arutz-7's security correspondent Haggai Huberman notes. "When Israeli forces tell them to 'move over' so that terrorists can be arrested or the like, they do so." 

Israel Keeps Hamas Out
Asked to explain why this might be, Huberman said, "For one thing, they know that Shechem is surrounded by us - more so than Jenin.  But more importantly, they are well aware that the only reason Hamas is not taking over is because we are in charge.  The fact that we have overall responsibility for security is what is keeping Fatah in power."

Similar arrangements exist in Hevron and, to a lesser extent, in Bethlehem.  

Israel also plans to help the Palestinian Authority host an international business conference this coming May. 

Israel hopes that these gestures will remove some of the pressure that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice - who plans to visit the region at the end of this week - is expected to exert upon Israel.