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DM Barak approved transfer of 1,000 automatic weapons to the Palestinian Authority [4,000 Dayton trained troops in "demilitarized" Palestinian territory?]
TY to IMRA
1,000 Kalashnikovs approved for PA
Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jul. 6, 2009
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of 1,000 automatic
weapons to the Palestinian Authority, defense officials said Sunday, on the
eve of Barak's meeting in London with US special envoy to the Middle East
George Mitchell.
The gesture was approved several weeks ago in response to a PA request but
the transfer of the Kalashnikov rifles has been held up due to ballistic
tests that the IDF runs on all weapons transferred to the PA. This way, the
IDF will be able to know if one of the weapons is used in a terror attack.
(I can hear your laughter in the background. What a crew of cynics)
This is the second major transfer of weapons to the Palestinians approved by
Israel in the past year. Fifty BTR-70 armored vehicles, donated by Russia
are currently waiting in Jordan for final checks before being transferred to
the PA.
Meanwhile, defense officials said that the Palestinian Authority was having
difficulty recruiting new soldiers into the battalions that it is trying to
form to be trained by United States Security Coordinator Lt.-Gen. Keith
Dayton.
Barak, the officials said, planned to raise the issue during his meeting
with Mitchell.
Four Palestinian battalions trained by Dayton have already deployed in the
West Bank, in Jenin, Hebron, Jericho and Bethlehem, totaling over 2,000
soldiers. Another three battalions are supposed to be added, bringing the
number up to 4,000.
But Israeli officials said Sunday that while Israel supported the
enlargement of the force, the PA was encountering difficulty in finding
Palestinian youth interested in serving in the security forces.
"The process is moving slowly," one official said. "If there were more
people willing to enlist then there would be more battalions training and
deploying in the West Bank."
The official said that many Palestinians had despaired of the chances for
peace and were still scarred by the second intifada, which erupted in the
West Bank in 2000.
In addition, the acceptance process for these battalions is extremely
selective, since the PA wants to prevent people affiliated with Hamas from
infiltrating the ranks.
1,000 Kalashnikovs approved for PA
Yaakov Katz
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jul. 6, 2009
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of 1,000 automatic
weapons to the Palestinian Authority, defense officials said Sunday, on the
eve of Barak's meeting in London with US special envoy to the Middle East
George Mitchell.
The gesture was approved several weeks ago in response to a PA request but
the transfer of the Kalashnikov rifles has been held up due to ballistic
tests that the IDF runs on all weapons transferred to the PA. This way, the
IDF will be able to know if one of the weapons is used in a terror attack.
(I can hear your laughter in the background. What a crew of cynics)
This is the second major transfer of weapons to the Palestinians approved by
Israel in the past year. Fifty BTR-70 armored vehicles, donated by Russia
are currently waiting in Jordan for final checks before being transferred to
the PA.
Meanwhile, defense officials said that the Palestinian Authority was having
difficulty recruiting new soldiers into the battalions that it is trying to
form to be trained by United States Security Coordinator Lt.-Gen. Keith
Dayton.
Barak, the officials said, planned to raise the issue during his meeting
with Mitchell.
Four Palestinian battalions trained by Dayton have already deployed in the
West Bank, in Jenin, Hebron, Jericho and Bethlehem, totaling over 2,000
soldiers. Another three battalions are supposed to be added, bringing the
number up to 4,000.
But Israeli officials said Sunday that while Israel supported the
enlargement of the force, the PA was encountering difficulty in finding
Palestinian youth interested in serving in the security forces.
"The process is moving slowly," one official said. "If there were more
people willing to enlist then there would be more battalions training and
deploying in the West Bank."
The official said that many Palestinians had despaired of the chances for
peace and were still scarred by the second intifada, which erupted in the
West Bank in 2000.
In addition, the acceptance process for these battalions is extremely
selective, since the PA wants to prevent people affiliated with Hamas from
infiltrating the ranks.
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