PA police officers
PA police officersCredit: Naja Hasalmon/Flash 90

The organization Ad Kan (an Israeli right-wing activist organization known for infiltrating Israeli left-wing organizations) claims that a Palestinian Authority (PA) senior preventive security officer has been a senior member of the Combatants for Peace (an Israeli-PA Arab NGO which fights against the "Israeli occupation") since its inception in 2006 and may have been "planted" in the organization to gather information on Israeli activists.

An internal document of PA preventive security classified as "highly confidential," which Ad Kan is revealing for the first time, indicates that a senior PA preventive security officer maintains regular contact with a prominent Israeli activist in Combatants for Peace, and that the organization's activities are accompanied and coordinated with PA preventive security.

In a letter previously sent by Lieutenant General (ISA) Issa Abu Aram to General Preventive Security Director General Ziad Hab-Alariach, Abu Aram reported that a Combatants for Peace activity was planned against the separation fence with the participation of some 1,000 PA Arabs and Israelis.

Abu Aram notes in a handwritten letter on official stationery of preventive security that he coordinated the activity with a senior preventive security officer named Raad Alhadar, and "in coordination with the Israeli activist [name redacted] who maintains a strong and ongoing relationship with him (Alhadar) in connection with this mission."

Abu Aram requested that the Preventive Security Commander update the staff of the Bethlehem organization in the expected Combatants for Peace activity and order them to "provide them with everything they need for the success of the activity."

Raad Alhadar is a convicted terrorist who sat in Israeli prison for three years for attempting to build a bomb, after being wanted for a year. In his youth, Alhadar joined Fatah and engaged in terrorist activities including stone-throwing, tire-burning and throwing firebombs.

With the establishment of the PA in the 1990s, Alhadar began to work with the PA preventive security he is working with until today, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In April 2015, Alhadar completed a preventive security commanding course.

Alhadar was one of the founders of Combatants for Peace and participates from time to time in activities in Israel and abroad as a representative of the organization.

Ad Kan noted that according to law, Israelis are forbidden to have contact and working relationships with employees of the PA security and intelligence apparatus. Ezra Nawi, a senior member of the Ta'ayush organization, who became known in January 2016 for exposing PA Arab land sellers to preventive security and admitted that it led to the beatings and death of several of them, is currently facing criminal charges for his violation of this law.

In response to Ad Kan's report, Combatants for Peace denied that employees of the PA security forces are included among the organization's activists and claimed that they do not receive assistance from the Palestinian Authority but admitted that they coordinate their demonstrations and activities but only in a bureaucratic way. The group also claimed the document cited by Ad Kan was a forgery.

"This isn't the first time that Ad Kan has been spreading cooked-up and doctored evidence later found to be 'fake news'."

Gilad Ach, the director of Ad Kan, responded that "this is a long-standing activity of PA preventive security within the so-called "peace organization" and not with innocent intent. The entry of a senior officer in the field of preventive security in civil disguise for activity within Israel, while his job is to gather information about Israelis, poses a security and intelligence threat, and I urge the enforcement authorities to intervene immediately and investigate those involved."

"We have more than a logical basis to assume that some of the Israeli activists who came into contact with the Palestinian officer gave him information over the years while being aware of his position and goals."