Concessions to PA off the table after Tel Aviv terror attack

The Security Cabinet was set to discuss measures to boost the Palestinian Authority.

By JNS

Israel’s Security Cabinet will not approve concessions to the Palestinian Authority during an expected meeting on Sunday afternoon.

“This is not the right atmosphere to bring it to the cabinet table,” a political source confirmed to Channel 12, referring to Saturday’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv that killed 42-year-old municipal patrol officer Chen Amir.

The package of concessions meant to prevent the PA from collapsing was drafted in the last few days, according to the report. The work on it is being led by National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi and the head of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan.

After the terror attack, the decision was made to delay discussion on the series of economic and defense measures intended to boost the PA. The political source said that the item would be brought to the Cabinet table for final approval “soon, maybe as early as this week.”

“The Americans know that we will confirm this soon and they are fully coordinating with us. These are not concessions or rewards, but decisions that will help the PA to maintain a better economic life, and this is a security interest first and foremost,” the source said.

Also on Sunday, Kan Reshet Bet radio reported that PA officials have issued an ultimatum that if concessions are not approved at the Cabinet meeting, they will boycott an international security summit that is supposed to take place in the next two months.

The summit would be a follow-up to a U.S.-supervised meeting in February in Aqaba in which Israel and the PA affirmed the need to “commit to de-escalation on the ground,” according to Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.