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Abbas says security cooperation with Israel vital to prevent increased violence
In a rare interview with Israeli television, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said that security cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli forces is crucial to prevent chaos in the West Bank.
Speaking to Channel Two’s Ilana Dayan, Abbas warned that “If we give up security coordination [between the PA and Israel] there will be chaos here. There will be rifles, and explosions, and armed militants popping up everywhere and rushing at Israel. Without the coordination, a bloody intifada would break out.” Abbas insisted that “I want to cooperate with the Israelis. There is an agreement between us and I am not ashamed by it.”
Abbas claimed that PA forces are being hampered by IDF incursions into Palestinian cities in the West Bank. He said, “Give me responsibility for the Palestinian territories, and test me.” He also said that he opposes the near-daily attacks on Israelis during the last six months, which have killed at least 31 Israelis. Abbas said that Palestinian security forces enter schools looking for knives and “In one school we found 70 boys and girls carrying knives,” adding “We spoke to them and said this was a mistake.”
Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have long complained that incendiary rhetoric from Palestinian leaders, including Abbas, helps stoke the current violence. On a recent visit to Israel, US Vice President Joe Biden also took issue with Palestinian encouragement to violence, saying “the rhetoric that incites that violence, the retribution that it generates, has to stop… This cannot become an accepted modus operandi.”
In the interview, Abbas also stated “I’m prepared to meet [Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu anywhere, any time,” in what appeared to be a response to Netanyahu’s repeated calls for peace talks with Abbas without preconditions. Abbas has insisted that before peace talks which were suspended two years ago can resume, Israel must first release Palestinian prisoners and freeze construction in the West Bank, both measures which Israel has previously undertaken.