24
Developing an Israeli Grand Strategy toward
a Peaceful Two-State Solution
and prevent undermining interoperability between IDF and
Palestinian forces. Each incursion of this kind is perceived
by the Palestinians as a humiliating event that subverts the
legitimacy of the Palestinian security forces in the eyes of the
Palestinian public.
The structure of the security coordination
The structure of the security coordination
apparatus
Coordination between the intelligence agencies
– A major
element of the security coordination, conducted generally
behind the scenes, is intelligence coordination between
intelligence agencies on both sides. On the Israeli side, the
ISA is the main entity responsible for intelligence gathering,
and it works with its counterparts on the Palestinian side:
the Preventive Security Service and General Intelligence.
Intelligence coordination is complicated due to the fact that
the ISA also uses human intelligence (HUMINT), meaning
Palestinian operatives who transmit information to their Israeli
handlers. As long as the intelligence gathered serves the
interests of both sides, a certain level of coordination and
exchange of information is maintained. However, there is a
large area involving matters regarding which the interests of
the two apparatuses do not coincide. The ISA is exceedingly
careful not to share intelligence with PA apparatuses in certain
cases, lest they expose sources, and in other cases out of
concern that the PA would have difficulty acting against
those parties. Nevertheless, there have been cases in which
intelligence information was transferred and the Palestinians
took action to thwart terrorist activities.
International involvement in training
Palestinian forces
Two international bodies have been active for more than a
decade in training Palestinian security personnel and enhancing
the capabilities of the Palestinian security apparatuses. In
2005, General Keith Dayton was appointed as United States
Security Coordinator in the Palestinian Authority (USSC), and
he began training the Palestinian national security forces with
a team comprised mostly of American, British, Canadians and
even Turkish officers. In the last decade, 14 national security
battalions have been trained at the Jordan International Police
Training Center (JPTC) located in Jordan to contend
with the tasks of maintaining order and controlling
riots. The apparatus also currently helps with the
procurement of equipment and the continued training
and organization building of the force. At the same
time, in 2006, a mechanism was established for
training and instruction of the civil police force in the
PA by the European Union, the EUCoordinating Office
for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS). The
activities of these two organizations assist the PA in
training security forces to take a more professional
approach, enhancing their ability to carry out their
duties and gain the trust of the Palestinian public, and
also helping to bolster the Israeli’s level of confidence
in the capability of the Palestinian security forces.
Thechallengesof securitycoordination
The basic anomaly
–Security coordination is
maintained as part of an anomalous situation by
which Israel continues to control many aspects of the life of the
Palestinian population as it works to secure the day-to-day lives
of the settlers living in the West Bank. This situation presents
both sides with a reality that does not allow cooperation on an
equal footing, and creates a sense of ongoing and mounting
frustration on the part of the Palestinians, particularly in
the absence of political negotiations and the assurance of
prospects for a long-term solution. Some argue that in the
context of the Interim Agreement, Israel tried to exercise its
security interests, whereby the Palestinian security forces
would operate against the terrorists that belong to groups
opposed to Israel – Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front
or any other terrorist organizations. The Palestinian public is
opposed to Palestinian security forces serving Israeli interests,
and attempts of the PA to present the cooperation as being
in the Palestinian national interest have met with opposition
among large swathes of the Palestinian public.
5
Lack of internal legitimacy
– The PA’s security services are
perceived by the Palestinian public as serving the interests of
the Israelis. Arrests of Hamas operatives, who execute or plan
to execute terror attacks in Israel, as well as IDF incursions into
Area A, are viewed by the Palestinian public as collaboration
with the “Israeli occupation”. The degree of legitimacy accorded
to the Palestinian security services also depends on the degree
of legitimacy accorded to the PA itself, and as the latter
diminishes, the legitimacy of the former diminishes along with it.
5 Roland Friedrich, Security Sector Reform in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International
Affairs (PASSIA), Jerusalem, November 2004, p. 23.
