JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian president has claimed Israel has reduced its security cooperation with Palestinians in the West Bank to protest the successful bid for upgraded status at the United Nations, in an interview published Friday.
Israel's military denied the charge, saying security cooperation continues.
Mahmoud Abbas said Israeli soldiers have started entering West Bank cities without Palestinian coordination. He spoke in a meeting with a dovish Israeli lawmaker and Israel's daily Haaretz.
An Abbas aide, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, said Israel's army detained 200 Palestinian officers in recent months, mostly for short interrogations.
Israeli defense officials responded Friday that soldiers enter Palestinian cities only when they think Palestinians are not providing enough support. They spoke anonymously in line with government regulations.
Israel earlier suggested the possibility of reducing security cooperation in retaliation for the Palestinian U.N. campaign.
Abbas also reiterated his longstanding threat to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which he believes would leave Israel responsible for governing the West Bank's Palestinians.
Critics say Abbas is unlikely to follow through on the threat and may be using it as a pressure tactic. Tens of thousands of Palestinian civil servants and security forces rely on the Palestinian Authority for their livelihood, and the Palestinian Authority is the keystone of a series of partial peace accords with Israel that benefit the Palestinian economy and influence other aspects of life.
Arab League chief says Palestinians to petition UN
Arab League chief says Palestinians to petition UN
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RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said Saturday that two decades of talks with Israel have been "a waste of time" and that Palestinians will soon take a new statehood bid to the U.N.
The U.N. General Assembly last month endorsed a de facto Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza, areas Israel won in a 1967 war. But outright recognition of statehood status for Palestine fell short last year before the more powerful U.N. Security Council.
"We will return to the U.N. Security Council," he said in Ramallah Saturday after meeting Palestinian officials. "Palestine will be cooperating with Arab and EU countries to change the equation (in the peace process) that prevailed over the past 20 years, which was a waste of time."
By mentioning other states and the European Union, some may interpret Elaraby's remarks as implying that the international community should intervene and impose a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Talks collapsed in 2008 after Palestinians demanded Israel stop building in areas they want for a future state. Israel insists settlements and other core issues should be resolved in talks themselves.
KHIRBET AL-MEITEH, West Bank (AP) — Israel's army has ordered dozens of Palestinian Bedouins to leave their communities in a remote West Bank area while it conducts military exercises there.
The military says the order is temporary, and that the Palestinians are living illegally in closed military zones.
The Bedouins say they have lived there for decades, making a living by herding animals. They say Israeli officials are pressuring them to leave.
While the army has issued temporary evacuation orders in the past, Bedouins say they have increased in frequency. They say it is distressing for their children and livestock to move, and that many of them have nowhere else to go.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian officials say Israeli undercover troops broke into a West Bank house in a failed arrest raid, igniting a violent protest and signaling that Israeli-Palestinian security coordination may be in trouble.
The Israeli military says some 500 Palestinians threw stones and firebombs at troops near the town of Jenin. Palestinian officials say a Palestinian was shot in the hand by army fire and an elderly woman was bitten by an army dog.
In recent years, the West Bank has been relatively calm as a result of coordination between Israel's military and Palestinian security forces in tracking down militants. However, Palestinian officials say Israel has stepped up unilateral actions, such as surprise arrest raids, since the Palestinians won U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine late last year.
Report: Israeli ex-spy chief criticizes PM on Iran
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JERUSALEM (AP) — A recently retired Israeli spy chief says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted irresponsibly regarding Iran's nuclear program and accuses him of prioritizing personal concerns over national interests.
Yuval Diskin, chief of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency from 2005 to 2011, has voiced similar criticisms before.
Diskin says Netanyahu tried to convince him and his colleagues to approve what he called an "illegal" decision to attack Iran. He describes attending a "bizarre" meeting with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, in which they discussed the Iranian nuclear threat over cigars and liquor.
Diskin spoke in an interview to a filmmaker who made a documentary about Israeli spymasters. The interview appeared Friday in Israel's daily Yediot Ahronot.
Netanyahu's office in a text-messaged statement called Diskin's comments "baseless."
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Iran-Immortals • 2 hrs 56 mins ago Remember the Israeli bus bombing in Europe, which Netanyahu immediately blamed on Iran? He promised immediate REVENGE just minutes after the attack. Iran had nothing to do with that bombing. After few days, suddenly all the row was mysteriously silenced. It was very suspicious and may have been false-flag premise for Netanyahu to start an attack, but when plans were cancelled, the whole bus bombing was swept under the rug. Who was behind the bus bombing?
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