Palestinian Security Services

Palestinian police in Bethlehem, 2007

The Palestinian Security Services (PSS) are the armed forces and intelligence agencies of the State of Palestine. They comprise several institutions, notably the Security Forces and the police. The President of the Palestinian National Authority is Commander-in-Chief of the Palestinian Forces.[1] Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, the PSS are the Palestinian partner in the security cooperation with Israel.

Background

The State of Palestine has no land army, nor an air force or a navy. The Palestinian Security Services (PSS, not to confuse with Preventive Security Service) do not dispose over heavy weapons and advanced military equipment like tanks.

In the so-called Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Israel has consistently demanded that a Palestinian state will always be demilitarised and thus will never has an army. Israeli negotiators demanded to keep Israeli troops in the West Bank, to maintain control of Palestinian airspace, and to dictate exactly what weapons could and could not be purchased by the Palestinian security forces.[2] In June 2009 at Bar-Ilan University, Benyamin Netanyahu said: ″We cannot be expected to agree to a Palestinian state without ensuring that it is demilitarised,″[2]

Article XII of the Oslo II Accord states:
″In order to guarantee public order and internal security for the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the [Palestinian] Council shall establish a strong police force as set out in Article XIV below. Israel shall continue to carry the responsibility for defense against external threats, including the responsibility for protecting the Egyptian and Jordanian borders, and for defense against external threats from the sea and from the air, as well as the responsibility for overall security of Israelis and Settlements, for the purpose of safeguarding their internal security and public order, and will have all the powers to take the steps necessary to meet this responsibility.″[3]
Article II of Annex I stipulates:
″The Palestinian Police is the only Palestinian security authority.″[4]

Organization

Presidential Guard, 2008

2003-2004 reform and National Security Council

Following the Oslo Accords, the number of separate security forces, all under exclusive control of President Arafat, had been grown considerably. Under strong Israeli and international pressure, based on the 2003 Roadmap for peace,[5] Arafat started the reorganization of the PSS. On 30 April 2003, right on the publication date of the Roadmap, Arafat issued a presidential decree calling for the establishment of a National Security Council (NSC) to oversee all of the PNA's security services.[1] It was the result of a struggle for power between Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Arafat, and international - mainly American - pressure.[6] Abbas would become acting Interior Minister in his new government. On 11 September, Arafat announced the formation of the 14-member Council that would supervise all the security organs. Like his predecessor, the newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei disagreed with Arafat about the appointment of the Interior Minister.[7]

On 8 November 2003, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and President Arafat agreed to divide the NSC between the government and the National Security Council, after having resolved disputes over the choice of the new Interior Minister. The NSC (headed by Arafat) became responsible for security affairs, while the Interior Minister would be in charge of non-security administrative and civilian affairs,[1] but also a member of the NSC along with the Finance Minister Salam Fayyad and the heads of the security agencies.[8] Eventually, Arafat's close associate Hakam Balawi became the new Interior Minister in Qurei's Government, which was approved on 12 November 2003. In his capacity as Prime Minister, however, Qurei was also member of the NSC.[9]

Again under international pressure, Arafat rebuilt on 17 July 2004 the eight separate security services to three after 6 people were kidnapped in Gaza. Arafat nominated 3 close relatives as heads of the new apparatus, including his nephew Moussa Arafat, who was already head of the general security branch in the Gaza Strip.[10] It fueled protests and internal clashes between rival sections of the security forces staffed by members of Arafat's party Fatah. The already existing protests were widely seen as a power struggle ahead of Israel's announced disengagement from Gaza.[11] Yasser Arafat withdrew the controversial nomination of Moussa Arafat, but the latter remained head of the general security branch in the Gaza Strip.[11]

2005 reform

After his election as President of the Palestinian National Authority in January 2005, President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Nasser Yousef his security chief. On 14 April 2005, the President restructured the Palestinian Security Services. The previously existing 12 security divisions were merged into three general branches: National Security, Interior, and Intelligence. Abbas made Nasser Yousef head of the three main security institutions. With that, the responsibilities of Yousef, who was appointed Interior Minister two months earlier, were considerably expanded.[12] On 22 April, Abbas retired head of the Gaza national security forces Moussa Arafat and replaced him with Suleiman Heles; head of the Gaza General Intelligence Amin al-Hindi was replaced by Tareq Abu Rajab. Alaa Husni was appointed head of the Palestinian police, while further 1,150 Palestinian security officials were also retired. On 14 April 2005, Abbas named Rashid Abu Shbak as the new head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service.[12]

From September 2005, the NSC was headed by President and Prime Minister, with as members the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD), the Secretary General of the Presidency, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Civil Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Advisor.[1]

Internal power struggle

After Hamas had won the 2006 parliamentary elections, power struggles over the security services between the Hamas-led PA Government and the presidency emerged.

In February 2006, before Hamas could form a PA government, President Abbas appointed the Fatah-affiliated Abu Shbak head of the PSS.[13] On 6 April 2006, one week after Hamas had formed its first PA government, Abbas appointed Rashid Abu Shbak head of the three security agencies, including the Preventive Security Service, formally under the control of Interior Minister Said Seyam, who had succeeded Abbas' confidant Nasser Yousef as Interior Minister in the new PA government. This fueled further rivalry between Hamas and Abbas.[14]

In response to Abbas' decision to take control over the PA security forces away from the Hamas-led government, the Government decided to form its own 3,000 manned security force in the Gaza Strip, the paramilitary Executive Force.[15][1] On 17 May 2006, the first men were deployed.[16] In January 2007, Abbas outlawed the Interior Ministry's police force. The Ministry resistet Abbas' order that its meanwhile 6,000 members of the Executive Force be incorporated into the security apparatus loyal to the president's Fatah movement.[17] Instead, Hamas announced plans to double the size of its force to 12,000 men.[18] Eventually, it ended in Fatah–Hamas battle in Gaza in June 2007. On 18 June 2007, Abbas dissolved the National Security Council, after having dissolved the Hamas-led PA Government.[19]

Budget and strength

In 2013, the PA's security budget was almost $1 billion, comprising 28 percent of the total budget. The large defense budget has been criticized because it is seen as part of the internal oppression system, as well as maintaining the crumbling Fatah movement’s hegemony and the status quo with Israel. Some 65,000 of the PA’s civil servants (41%) were registered as defense workers; 34,000 were not Hamas government employees in Gaza.[20]

As of November 2014, there were about 17,000 military employees in Gaza, including policemen, who were hired by Hamas since June 2007. They were still considered illegitimate by the Palestinian unity government of 2014 and therefore not payed.[21]

As of January 2005, the number of Palestinian Authority security forces was, according to Associated Press, about 30,000. The division was as follows:[22]

Tasks

The 2003 Amended Basic Law (Article 84) states:

"The Security Forces and the Police are regular forces. They are the armed forces in the country. Their functions are limited to defending the country, serving the people, protecting society and maintaining public order, security and public morals."[23]

The National Security Forces and the Presidential Guard are the PA's paramilitary forces, to some extend resembling an army. Before the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, the PA maintained a small Coast Guard, using 5 motorboats equipped with machine guns along the Gazan seacoast. Before Israel destroyed the Gazan airport, there was also a small Aerial Police.[1]

Police tasks are performed by the Civil Police Force, known as the Blue Police for its uniform color. Additionally, there are some other small civil forces. The Preventive Security Force is a large unit of the PA's intelligence. The intelligence division is divided into General Intelligence (Mukhabarat), Military Intelligence (Istikhbarat) and Military Police Intelligence.[1]

Security cooperation between Israel and Palestine

Emblem of the General Intelligence

Security cooperation between Israel and Palestine is the cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. It involves the sharing of intelligence between the two parties.

The cooperation originates from the Oslo Accords.[24] Pursuant to Oslo II, Article XII, a "Joint Coordination and Cooperation Committee for Mutual Security Purposes" was established and a palestinian Civil Police Force "to guarantee public order and internal security for the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip".[3]

While Israeli security officials regularly praised the cooperation,[25][26] critics say that the agreement was very much focused on creating a structure which would primarily ensure the security of Israel. Leaked documents in the Palestine Papers revealed that the PA was willing to go as far as to kill its own people in order to prove that it was establishing law and order in territories under its control.[24] Mazin Qumsiyeh, a civil society leader in Bethlehem, said the Oslo accords had effectively turned the PA into a ″security sub-contractor″, and ″The job of the Palestinian security forces is to enforce the occupation on Israel’s behalf″.[27]

On numerous occasions, President Abbas has threatened to end the security cooperation to show firmness to end the Israeli occupation, however without ever taking concrete steps. In October 2014, Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh calculated that Abbas had used the thread 58 times.[24] In May 2014, Abbas declared that the security cooperation with Israel is sacred.[28] In March 2015, the PLO Central Council formally decided to end the security coordination,[29] but eventually, the decision was not implemented.

Third Intifada

Since the new uprising that begun in October 2015 the Palestinian police seemed to show less willingness to suppress protests against the occupation. In December 2015, the Palestinian police even for the first time evicted Israeli Border Police who had raided Beitunia, a suburb of Ramallah in Area A, which formally is under exclusive security control by the Palestinians.[25]

Nevertheless, commander of the Palestinian Intelligence in the West Bank Majid Faraj revealed in January 2016, that the Security Forces since October 2015 had prevented some 200 "terrorist attacks" against Israel and arrested about 100 Palestinians on suspicion of planning attacks against Israelis. [30] It triggered a wave of denunciations from Palestinian factions that are strongly opposed to security coordination with Israel. A spokesman of Hamas said that the PA security forces played a role in serving the security of the occupation and combating the Palestinian intifada, and that “Protecting the security of the occupation has become part of the ideology of the Palestinian security forces”.[30] Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, on the contrary, defended the Intelligence chief.[31]

Criticism

Palestinian security forces have often been criticized for suppressing its own people and crushing the resistance to the Israeli occupation.[25] They targeted on the armed resistance as well as political opposition and protesters.[28][32][33] Not only Hamas supporters are targeted, but Fatah adherents as well.[34]

In 2008, the head of the Palestinian Civil Police presented the Israelis with a laundry list of actions taken by the PA against Hamas. In the West Bank, Hamas members are frequently arrested, as were students supporting Hamas.[24] In September 2015, security forces dispersed a march of protesters who demonstrated against excessive use of force by PA security forces against demonstrators.[35][36]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Palestinian Security Services: Past and Present. MIFTAH, 30 May 2006
  2. 1 2 Demanding a demilitarized state. Gregg Carlstrom, Al Jazeera, 25 January 2011
  3. 1 2 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 28 September 1995. From the Knesset website
  4. ↑ Oslo II Accord, Annex I: Protocol Concerning Redeployment and Security Arrangements, Article II.1
  5. ↑ Full text of the "road map", Phase I: Ending terror...; 30 April 2003
    "Palestinians and Israelis resume security co-operation based on the Tenet work plan to end violence, terrorism, and incitement through restructured and effective Palestinian security services."
  6. ↑ Arafat vs Abbas. Al-Ahram Weekly, 17–23 July 2003, Issue No. 647
  7. ↑ In the News-New Palestinian Government. Voice of America, 15 November 2003
  8. ↑ New Palestinian government approved. CNN, 12 November 2003.
  9. ↑ Israel army kills four Palestinians. Hisham Abdallah, Middle East Online, 9 November 2003
  10. ↑ Arafat refuses Qorei resignation. Sapa-AFP, 18 July 2004
  11. 1 2 Arafat denies he is facing crisis. BBC, 24 July 2004
  12. 1 2 Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine Monthly media monitoring review, April 2005. UN, Division for Palestinian Rights, 4 May 2005
  13. ↑ Hamas: From Resistance to Government. Paola Caridi, Seven Stories Press, 2012.
    [Rashid] "Abu Shbak became a Fatah member in 1971... He returned in 1994, upon installment of the PNA and became Mohammed Dahlan's deputy in the Gaza Preventative Security Force, of which he took charge in 2002. In April 2005, he began his rise to the very top of the security services when Abu Mazen appointed him head of the Preventative Security Force in the West Bank and Gaza. On February 20, 2006, he was appointed head of the security services.
  14. ↑ Alone and Broke, Hamas Struggles to Rule. New York Times, 7 April 2006
  15. ↑ Hamas to expand ′Executive Force′. Jerusalem Post, 21 December 2006
    "The Executive Force, which was established a few months ago by Interior Minister Said Siam of Hamas, today includes nearly 3,000 members."
  16. ↑ Hamas-Led Government Deploys Security Force, Defying Abbas. New York Times, 17 May 2006
  17. ↑ Abbas outlaws Hamas's paramilitary Executive Force. Richard Boudreaux, The Boston Globe, 7 January 2007
  18. ↑ Hamas defiant on 'illegal' force. BBC, 6 January 2007
  19. ↑ Abbas dissolves Palestinian National Security Council, rallying international support. Associated Press, 18 June 2007
  20. ↑ Palestinian Budget Reflects PA's Dependence on Israel, U.S.. Amira Hass, Haaretz, 31 March 2013 (premium)
  21. ↑ Gaza’s civil servants strike over unpaid wages. Al-Monitor, 19 November 2014
  22. ↑ Palestinian security forces. Associated Press, 19 January 2005
  23. ↑ 2003 Amended Basic Law, 18 March 2003
  24. 1 2 3 4 Fact sheet: Palestinian security cooperation with Israel. Jessica Purkiss & Ahmad Nafi, Middle East Monitor, 28 October 2015. Here available
  25. 1 2 3 WATCH: Armed Palestinian police order Israeli troops out of West Bank city. Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, +972, 22 December 2015
  26. ↑ Israeli officer praises PA security services’ role in protecting settlers. MEMO, 18 May 2015
  27. ↑ Abbas in firing line over security cooperation with Israel. Jonathan Cook, 10 July 2014
  28. 1 2 Abbas: Security Cooperation with Israeli Army and Police is Sacred. Christof Lehmann, nsnbc, 31 May 2014
  29. ↑ PLO leadership votes to suspend security cooperation with Israel. Peter Beaumont, Guardian, 5 March 2015
  30. 1 2 Palestinian Authority hard-liners blast security cooperation with Israel. Abu Toameh, Khaled, Jerusalem post, 21 January 2016
  31. ↑ Fatah's military wing condemns 'Hamas conspiracy' against the Palestinian Authority. MAAYAN GROISMAN, Jerusalem post, 26 January 2016
  32. ↑ PA cracks down on protests against Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque. MEMO, 3 October 2015
  33. ↑ Abbas Cracks Down On Opposition Against Talks With Israel. Christof Lehmann, nsnbc, 26 March 2014
  34. ↑ PA cracks down on Fatah rally against Israeli settlement. MEMO, 31 December 2015
  35. ↑ PA forces disperse Palestinian protest in Bethlehem. Ma’an, 20 September 2015
  36. ↑ PA security services clash with protesters in Bethlehem. MEMO, 21 September 2015

External links

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