According to Reuters, intelligence cooperation continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East settlement efforts in 2017.
Saib Arikat, secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, said on Thursday he had stopped contact with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This was reported by the agency Reuters.
“It [cooperation] ceased immediately after the speech of Palestinian President [Mahmoud Abbas]”, – Erekat quoted the agency as saying.
According to Reuters, the cooperation of intelligence agencies continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump on the Middle East settlement in 2017.
“Security cooperation with the U.S. is no longer in place. There is no more security cooperation with Israel. We intend to maintain public order and the rule of law ourselves”, – said the PLO Secretary General.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem declined to comment.
May 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the time has come to annex some Palestinian territories in the West Bank. In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the termination of all agreements with Israel and the United States on May 19. He added that Israel should be held responsible for attempts to annex the occupied Palestinian territories.