Analysis

PA says in talks with Israel on ending IDF raids in West Bank

Israeli officials insist operations against 'ticking bombs' would continue; security coordination ongoing at Abbas's orders

By Avi Issacharoff
  • Avi Issacharoff, The Times of Israel's Middle East analyst, fills the same role for Walla, the leading portal in Israel. He is also a guest commentator on many different radio shows and current affairs programs on television. Until 2012, he was a reporter and commentator on Arab affairs for the Haaretz newspaper. He also lectures on modern Palestinian history at Tel Aviv University, and is currently writing a script for an action-drama series for the Israeli satellite Television "YES." Born in Jerusalem, he graduated cum laude from Ben Gurion University with a B.A. in Middle Eastern studies and then earned his M.A. from Tel Aviv University on the same subject, also cum laude. A fluent Arabic speaker, Avi was the Middle East Affairs correspondent for Israeli Public Radio covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and the Arab countries between the years 2003-2006. Avi directed and edited short documentary films on Israeli television programs dealing with the Middle East. In 2002 he won the "best reporter" award for the "Israel Radio” for his coverage of the second intifada. In 2004, together with Amos Harel, he wrote "The Seventh War - How we won and why we lost the war with the Palestinians." A year later the book won an award from the Institute for Strategic Studies for containing the best research on security affairs in Israel. In 2008, Issacharoff and Harel published their second book, entitled "34 Days - The Story of the Second Lebanon War," which won the same prize.
 8 April 2016, 9:00 pm
Illustrative: IDF soldiers of the Givati Brigade during a late-night mission in the West Bank, October 7, 2015. (IDF Spokesperson/Flash90)

Senior Palestinian officials say that security talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel are currently focused on a proposal to halt all Israeli military activity in West Bank cities, in accordance with a schedule to be agreed upon by both parties.

The discussions come after the Palestinian Authority rejected an Israeli proposal to first end military operations in Ramallah and Jericho, and subsequently evaluate whether it could then extend to other West Bank cities. Haaretz newspaper reported last month that Israel had proposed to halt operations in the two West Bank cities, except in cases of “ticking bombs” — terrorists who are about to carry out attacks.

Palestinian officials told The Times of Israel that there are currently intense discussions underway, although it is unclear how the Israeli political echelon will respond to the Palestinian demand for an end to all Israeli operations in West Bank cities, or even to the fact of the discussions being held with Israeli defense officials.

In recent weeks, several meetings have taken place between senior officials in the Israeli and Palestinian security mechanisms, attended by representatives from the Shin Bet security service, the IDF GOC Central Command Major General Roni Numa, and the head of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Yoav Mordechai.

The Palestinian side included Minister for Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, the head of general intelligence, Majed Faraj, and the head of preventative security in the West Bank, Ziyad Hab al-Rih.

In recent days, Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the PLO executive committee, announced that Israel has a two-week extension to respond to the Palestinian demands. However, the Israeli side stressed that security coordination between the two parties is for now continuing, on the explicit orders of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

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