Palestinians ready to resume relations with Israel

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has declared this evening the renewal of the security and administrative coordination with Israel interrupted since last May 19th. This was announced in a note by Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian minister for civil affairs, who said the decision was made after Israel sent the PNA a document in which it undertakes to respect the agreements signed with the PNA in the past.

Al-Sheikh said in an interview with Palestinian TV, it is the first official document of the Netanyahu period that reaffirms compliance with the agreements. Those who can read history understand its importance. We are facing a new American administration. We want to exploit the new situation to talk about a political process under the international aegis.

Ashraf Al-Ajrami , former minister for the PNA confirmed on the phone, the reference is to the commitment not to proceed with unilateral moves to annex the Palestinian Territories. The annexation was a hypothesis that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had repeatedly proposed after the presentation of Trump's Plan of the Century last January.

At the time of the formation of the new Israeli government in May one of the points of the agreement between the factions included the possibility of presenting to the parliament starting from June 1 a law that would have extended Israeli sovereignty over part of the Palestinian territories. Faced with the threat, Palestinian President Abu Mazen had announced the immediate interruption of coordination with Israel, which also included the non-receipt of the taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the PNA.

The annexation never actually materialized. The United Arab Emirates which in mid-August announced the start of diplomatic relations with Israel followed by Bahrain and Sudan had placed an either or in June. Either normalization or annexation. Netanyahu then went on to argue that the annexation was only suspended and not canceled but the restoration of relations with the Palestinians seems to indicate that things are now taking another course.

The restart of the tansik, coordination with Israel which in the difficult economic situation in which the PNA finds itself was becoming increasingly urgent had been in the air for some time and Biden's election was expected in Ramallah to announce it. Abu Mazen wants to convey a clear message to the new American administration: we are interested in returning to dialogue, he told Media's.

Furthermore, it could be a way to derail the talks for a reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, which Abu Mazen does not really intend to pursue both in order not to threaten his position as Palestinian interlocutor for the international community, and because new elections would be extremely risky for Fatah. In these days, representatives of Hamas and Fatah are in Cairo for a new round of conversations. But from Gaza, Hamas, together with Islamic Jihad, have already expressed strong condemnation for the decision to restart dialogue with Israel, asking the PNA to revoke it immediately.

Sources from Ramallah speak of the possibility that in the short term, in addition to the re-establishment of bureaucratic issues, there will also be high-level political meetings. It is not to be excluded first of all with the Minister of Security and alternate premier Benny Gantz , who under the table has started contacts with the Palestinian security establishment for months already. Not surprisingly, the document that the Palestinians cite as demonstration of the Israeli commitment to abide by past agreements, comes from Cogat, the department of the Ministry of Security that coordinates activities in the Palestinian Territories.