The IDF will allow PA para-military policemen to carry only pistols and handguns, following Defense Minister Mofaz's decision at the end of last week to allow the PA to fight the anarchy in its midst. Many nationalist groups have come out strongly against the decision, saying that history has shown that these guns will be turned, sooner or later, against Israelis.
Labor MK Ofir Pines called on Friday for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to request forgiveness from Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres for the right-wing's years' of accusations against the two for having provided the PA with guns. Pines stated that Sharon is now doing the very same thing.
Correspondent Haggai Huberman reports, in the name of a high-ranking army officer, that there is no intention to enable the PA's General Security apparatus - the basis of the PLO army - to resume operations. The working assumption is that the new measure will not affect the IDF's freedom to act within the PLO-controlled cities.
The timetable is as follows: The Shabak (General Security Service) and the IDF Central Command will formulate the precise restrictions by this Wednesday, followed by a meeting of high-ranking commanders on both the Israeli and PA sides to conclude the arrangements. The PA side will submit a list of its policemen, under the command of Saeb Al-Arz, and the Shabak will then review the names and authorize weapons for those it approves. The plan will be implemented in stages, and not in every PA-requested location. Although the Shomron cities of Shechem and Jenin, where the PA faces major governmental problems, are prime candidates for the new plan, it is still not clear when and whether the program will be implemented there, as these cities are plagued by many terror cells.
The army officer told Huberman that the experience of Bethlehem - during the attempted "hudna" ceasefire when Abu Mazen headed the PA last year - will guide the way. At that time, The PA policemen deferred to Israeli instructions to "make themselves scarce" whenever IDF forces arrived in the city to arrest terrorists.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon defended the move today: "It's not that we're giving them weapons; they have their own. Everything is being done in coordination with the commanders in the field." He further said, "If we didn't allow them to do this, we would have been blamed with being responsible for the anarchy in the PA." He repeated Defense Minister Mofaz's claim that the move is reversible if necessary.
Some aspects of the plan are already in dispute. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon said today that PA forces in Gaza are already armed, while in Judea and Samaria, "since we are engaged in an intensive anti-terror war and soldiers will not be able to determine who is a terrorist and who is a policeman, we will not permit them to carry weapons." PA sources, however, said that Israel had already agreed to allow the Arab weapons in Jericho, Ramallah and Tul Karem.
Labor MK Ofir Pines called on Friday for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to request forgiveness from Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres for the right-wing's years' of accusations against the two for having provided the PA with guns. Pines stated that Sharon is now doing the very same thing.
Correspondent Haggai Huberman reports, in the name of a high-ranking army officer, that there is no intention to enable the PA's General Security apparatus - the basis of the PLO army - to resume operations. The working assumption is that the new measure will not affect the IDF's freedom to act within the PLO-controlled cities.
The timetable is as follows: The Shabak (General Security Service) and the IDF Central Command will formulate the precise restrictions by this Wednesday, followed by a meeting of high-ranking commanders on both the Israeli and PA sides to conclude the arrangements. The PA side will submit a list of its policemen, under the command of Saeb Al-Arz, and the Shabak will then review the names and authorize weapons for those it approves. The plan will be implemented in stages, and not in every PA-requested location. Although the Shomron cities of Shechem and Jenin, where the PA faces major governmental problems, are prime candidates for the new plan, it is still not clear when and whether the program will be implemented there, as these cities are plagued by many terror cells.
The army officer told Huberman that the experience of Bethlehem - during the attempted "hudna" ceasefire when Abu Mazen headed the PA last year - will guide the way. At that time, The PA policemen deferred to Israeli instructions to "make themselves scarce" whenever IDF forces arrived in the city to arrest terrorists.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon defended the move today: "It's not that we're giving them weapons; they have their own. Everything is being done in coordination with the commanders in the field." He further said, "If we didn't allow them to do this, we would have been blamed with being responsible for the anarchy in the PA." He repeated Defense Minister Mofaz's claim that the move is reversible if necessary.
Some aspects of the plan are already in dispute. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon said today that PA forces in Gaza are already armed, while in Judea and Samaria, "since we are engaged in an intensive anti-terror war and soldiers will not be able to determine who is a terrorist and who is a policeman, we will not permit them to carry weapons." PA sources, however, said that Israel had already agreed to allow the Arab weapons in Jericho, Ramallah and Tul Karem.
