Israel to arm terrorists?

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

JAFFA – The Israeli government is planning to transfer ammunition, armored vehicles and security equipment to a Palestinian police force in which hundreds of known terrorists serve, WND has learned.

In a meeting yesterday with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak agreed to supply the Palestinian Authority police with the ammunition, 300 armored vehicles, rubber bullets and night-vision equipment.

In addition, Israel will allow the U.S. to transfer high-powered assault rifles to the Palestinian police force, according to Israeli security officials speaking to WND.

Barak also agreed to allow 600 Palestinian policemen to deploy in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, which is controlled by the Palestinians. The policemen require Israel's permission to cross from Jordan, where they have been undergoing a U.S.-led training program.

The Israel Defense Forces routinely carries out anti-terror operations in Jenin. Once the police force is deployed there, the IDF is expected to cut back on operations in Jenin and instead allow the Palestinians to fight anti-Israel terror.

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The Palestinian police force is the largest Palestinian security service, with over 15,000 members in the West Bank and Gaza.

According to a senior Palestinian security official, between 200 and 300 members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization serve in the West Bank Palestinian police force, including in Jenin. That estimate was also verified by IDF sources.

The Brigades, the declared military wing of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, is responsible for scores of recent suicide bombings and hundreds of deadly shootings in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Although U.S. policy considers Fatah to be moderate, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is declared by the State Department as a terrorist group.

Many Brigades members, including much of the group's well known leadership, serve openly in Fatah security forces, including in the police. For example, Abbas previously appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of the Force 17 Palestinian security unit. Damra, who was arrested by Israel last November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.

In November, Israel arrested two Palestinian police officers who had been accused that month of gunning down Israeli Ido Zoldan in the northern West Bank. Immediately after the killing, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders called WND to take credit for the attack.

Israel captured two of the murderers, Abdullah Braham and Jafar Braham, who were police officers and members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. A third terrorist, Fadi Jamaa, also a Palestinian police officer, was later apprehended by Palestinian security forces.

The three terrorists served in the same police force slated to be armed by Israel.

Yesterday, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of Israel's Likud Party, slammed the decision to send munitions to the Palestinian police.

"The idea that we will give guns, armored vehicles and ammunition to the Palestinian Authority as it exists today – and these weapons will even protect us – is not only mistaken, it is foolish," Netanyahu said. "These weapons will be turned against IDF soldiers far sooner than we think."

Barak's decision to arm the Palestinian police comes just days after a U.S. security report concluded the PA is failing to fight terrorism. The report was compiled by Gen. William Fraser, who was deployed to the region to monitor implementation of agreements pledged by Israel and the PA during last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.

Fraser's report slammed the PA for failing to arrest, interrogate and place terrorist suspects on trial. The report said the PA occasionally carries out arrests of suspected terrorists, but usually only following pressure from Israel or the U.S. The arrested terrorists, the report said, are rarely interrogated or tried but instead are briefly detained.

 

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To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

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