Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership has rejected pressure to reverse its decision to end the security coordination and pursue its diplomatic offensive against Israel in the international arena, officials said on Saturday, according to a report by JPost’s Khaled Abu Toameh.
The officials spoke a day after the PA leadership held a meeting in Ramallah to discuss the latest tensions and violence in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
The officials stressed that the decisions taken by the PA leadership late last month remain in place, notwithstanding the pressure from the US administration and other parties.
PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yusef was quoted as having told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio station that the PA leadership’s decision, which was confirmed during Friday’s meeting, is “to continue defining the relationship with the occupying state, to stop the security coordination, not to give in to Israeli threats, and to continue with measures to provide protection for our people.”
Bassam al-Salhi, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Secretary-General of the Palestinian People’s Party (formerly the Palestinian Communist Party), also emphasized that the decision to halt security coordination with Israel remains effective.
During the meeting, held under the chairmanship of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, “the leadership stressed that the decisions it took, including those related to the cessation of security coordination, are still in place given that the reason for them still exists,” Salhi told Voice of Palestine.
The PA announced on January 26 it was halting security coordination with Israel following the IDF’s counterterrorism raid in Jenin in which nine Arabs were killed, including eight terrorists and one civilian.
The move was announced by deputy PA cabinet leader Nabil Abu Rudeineh, who said that “security coordination with the occupation government no longer exists as of now,” in light of the "repeated aggression against our people, and the undermining of signed agreements."
Abu Rudeineh also said that the PA intended to file another complaint with the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court over Thursday morning's raid.
US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf later said the US is “urging de-escalation and a calming of the situation” and added Washington believes security coordination is in the best interests of both Israel and the PA.
“Obviously, we don’t think this is the right step to take at this moment. Far from stepping back on security coordination, we believe it’s quite important that the parties retain – and if anything, deepen – security coordination. And obviously, we’ll be continuing to talk to PA and Israeli officials all the way up through our arrival on the ground in a couple of days,” she said.
On Wednesday, Axios’ Barak Ravid reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Abbas to accept and implement a US security plan aimed at reestablishing Palestinian Authority control over the cities of Jenin and Shechem (Nablus).