CMEP Bulletin: No Security Coordination – on Paper

US, Netanyahu and a Two-state Solution

“Of course, [the US] commitment to achieving an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state negotiated solution remains strong. We count on having Israeli and Palestinian partners who are also committed to that goal. A lot of things are said during election campaigns. We’ll wait to see the policies of the next Israeli Government,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday in response to questions about a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu published Sunday by Likud. According to Likud, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that [in light of] the situation that has arisen in the Middle East, any evacuated territory would fall into the hands of Islamic extremism and terror organizations supported by Iran. Therefore, there will be no concessions or withdrawals; they are simply irrelevant.” The Prime Minister’s Office responded later in the day that Netanyahu “never said any such thing.”

Likud’s statement was released two days after Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper, published a draft document from August 2013 listing concessions Netanyahu was willing to make in a negotiated peace deal with the Palestinians. Concessions included using the 1967 borders with land swaps and acknowledgement of Palestinian aspirations in East Jerusalem.

PLO Votes to Stop Security Coordination with Israel

The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) central council adopted a resolution March 5th to “halt all forms of security coordination with Israeli occupation in light of its failure to abide by agreements signed between the two sides.” PA President Mahmoud Abbas left March 6th for a week of international official visits without issuing new instructions to the PA regarding security coordination with Israel. Two days later some 40 Hamas members were arrested in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in coordination with Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The PA said Tuesday it is committed to following Abbas’ instructions regarding cessation of security coordination with Israel, once they receive them.

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