Palestinians threaten to end Israel security cooperation
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says Palestinians already working on plans to halt security ties but did not say when step would be taken.
Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told reporters Thursday that the Palestinians are already working on plans to halt the security ties. However, he refused to say when the step would be taken.
"I can assure you that something will happen," Erekat said.
The security ties are aimed at containing violence and are one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians after years of failed peace efforts. The re-election of Netanyahu - who said during the end of his campaign that he opposes Palestinian independence in the current climate - has only worsened relations.
Such a step would be risky since it would likely trigger a tough Israeli response.
The Palestinians also announced that they would step up diplomatic efforts at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pursue Israeli leaders, said Erekat on Tuesday shortly after exit polls were published in the 2015 Israeli elections.
"It is clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government, and for that, we say clearly that we will go to the Hague Tribunal, we will accelerate, continue and intensify" diplomatic efforts, he told AFP.
Israel had withheld tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority as a response to the PLO's diplomatic effort at the ICC. Activists in Abbas' Fatah movement countered by enforcing a boycott of goods made by Israeli food companies.
The PLO's central council said that it recommended that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stop security coordination with Israel ealier in March, after, according to the Palestinians, Israel did not honor the agreements signed between the parties.
Despite the tensions in the past year, security coordination between Abbas' forces and Israeli troops had continued in the West Bank. The coordination is meant to prevent violence, including possible attacks against Israel.
