FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Palestinians warn they're unprepared to assume security control
Posted: August 10, 2010
10:29 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – The U.S. is pushing Israel into conceding strategic territory in the next few months despite admissions from the Palestinian Authority it is not fully ready to assume security control over the areas in question, WND has learned.
As a confidence gesture to the PA, the Obama administration has asked Israel to withdraw its forces from Area C – neighborhoods in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem where Israel maintains full security control. The PA's American-trained security forces would assume full control of those sections, according to the U.S. plan.
The gesture is part of a series of other measures the U.S. has asked of Israel in a bid to re-start direct talks with the PA. Other gestures include easing anti-terror roadblocks and checkpoints and facilitating greater movement of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
However, in recent meetings with George Mitchell – Obama's envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – PA security chiefs admitted their forces are not yet fully ready to assume security control of Area C, according to sources familiar with the meetings.
Since the late 1990s, the U.S. has run training bases for PA militias. The U.S. also has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid and weapons to build up the PA militias.
The past two years, the U.S. stepped up its efforts at training the PA, running more advanced courses guided by Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator to the Palestinian territories. In 2007, Dayton initiated an advanced program for Palestinian police that trains 500 to 600 cadets at a time at the American bases.
The U.S. currently operates training bases for the PA police and other militias, such as Force 17 and the Preventative Security Services in the West Bank city of Jericho and the Jordanian village of Giftlik.
Israeli security officials previously told WND that despite recent U.S. training, they were also concerned the PA is not strong enough in the West Bank to impose law and order without the help of the Israeli army.
According to the officials, the PA's intelligence apparatus routinely hands the Israel Defense Forces lists of Hamas militants that threaten Fatah rule, requesting that Israel make arrests.
Source: WORLD NET DAILY
