The US State Department clarified on Wednesday that the US does not supply lethal weapons to the security establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA). At the same time, the US State Department called on Israel and the PA to tighten mutual security cooperation.
Recently, reports published by Palestinian and Israeli media sources that the US has transferred armored vehicles and weapons to the Palestinian security forces via Jordan.
“We are concerned about the increasing violence in the West Bank and call on Israel and the Palestinian security forces to work together to improve the situation,”
US State Department
Army Radio reported this morning that Israel had transferred 1,500 rifles to the Palestinian security forces, however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant denied the allegations.
The reports on the subject led to angry reactions from the extreme right-wing ministers in the government, undermining the stability of the coalition.
“American security assistance to the Palestinian Authority does not include the supply of weapons and ammunition to the Palestinian security forces,” a spokesman on behalf of the US State Department told Walla! news.
The spokesman stated that cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, in coordination with Israel, should be continued in order to improve the security situation in the West Bank.
“We are concerned about the increasing violence in the West Bank and call on Israel and the Palestinian security forces to work together to improve the situation,” they said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the National Security Council to present to the political-security cabinet all the decisions made by the previous government regarding the Palestinian presidency.
Passing the buck
The Prime Minister’s Office said earlier today that the decision to transfer the armored personnel carriers to the Palestinian Authority was made last year by the Lapid government. Senior officials in the Lapid government denied this and added that even if so, the current government has been in office for 9 months and chose not to make any changes to the decision.
In addition, at the request of Otzma Yehudit Chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu clarified earlier that no decision was made on the transfer of weapons, but only on armored vehicles.
After the announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Otzma Yehudit Party published a statement congratulating Netanyahu on the directive but included an “uncompromising” stipulation asking, “for a significant reform of the conditions of the terrorists in prison and an end to the ‘summer camp’ policies [within prisons] and the rule of the terrorists in prison, and this by virtue of his position and authority as Minister of National Security is a demand. This is a fundamental demand on the part of Otzma Yehudit.”
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