Ya'alon downplays Palestinian threat of halting security coordination with Israel

PA leadership was set to discuss response to death of minister Ziad Abu Ein.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (photo credit: MESHULAM LEVY, BESA CENTER)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
(photo credit: MESHULAM LEVY, BESA CENTER)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon downplayed on Friday night the impact that a termination of the security coordination with the Palestinian Authority would have on Israel's security.
The Palestinian leadership was scheduled to discuss the steps it plans to take to protest the death of PA minister Ziad Abu Ein’s who collapsed during an altercation with IDF soldiers in the West Bank and who later died. One of the possible steps that the PA was considering was the possibility of halting security coordination with Israel.
Some senior Fatah officials claimed on Wednesday that the Palestinian leadership had already decided on that step. However, no official statement has been issued thus far by the Palestinian leadership confirming the claims.
"Ending the security coordination is a greater threat to the Palestinian Authority than it is to us," Ya'alon told Channel 2.
"The coordination has not terminated and the ties have been preserved," he added.
PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Thursday that Abu Ein was “martyr number 2625 of Israeli crimes since last June.”
Erekat said that the Palestinian leadership would also discuss proceeding with its statehood bid plan at the UN Security Council, which calls for setting a timeline for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre- 1967 lines.
Erekat told Sky News TV that the Palestinians would also sign the Rome Statute, which enables them to join the International Criminal Court.
Palestinian and Jordanian pathologists blamed the Israeli security forces for Abu Ein's death.
In a preliminary report, Israeli pathologists said on Thursday that the minister, who suffered from heart disease, died of a heart attack in the midst of a vocal confrontation with the soldiers and border policemen.
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.