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Palestinian official: Security coordination with CIA halted over Israeli annexation plans
 [Washington Examiner] A top Palestinian official said intelligence-sharing with the CIA has ended as a result of Israel’s plan to annex land in the West Bank.Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, announced the move Thursday, according to Reuters. Erekat said that Palestinian officials had already notified the CIA about the move after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced in a speech that all agreements with Israel and the United States were no longer valid. "Things change, and we have decided it is time now to change," Erekat said. The CIA declined to comment when contacted by the Washington Examiner. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former opposition leader Benny Gantz made a deal to form a government earlier this month and have expressed plans to annex parts of the West Bank identified as areas belonging to Israel as laid out in President Trump’s peace deal. The potential move has been met with anger by Palestinians, with Abbas announcing an end to cooperation with Israel and the U.S. on Tuesday. A Palestinian official told Reuters that Palestinian forces have begun to end cooperative policing in certain areas of the West Bank in response to the potential annexation. "In light of the president’s instructions about ceasing security coordination, the Israeli side was notified," the official said. The increasingly tense situation comes after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel and met with government officials. Prior to his visit, he denied reports that the U.S. is trying to get Israel to back away from the move and said it would be "a decision that the Israelis will make." Israeli officials confirmed Thursday that Abbas is following through with the threat to end security cooperation despite making similar threats in the past.we Posted by: Besoeker 2020-05-22 |
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