JENIN, West Bank — In the live-fire exercise, everything was choreographed — Palestinian commandos, faces blackened, stormed a hide-out in an abandoned building, “wounded” one gunman and “arrested” a second.
But is this corps, American-trained and steadily growing, ready for the real thing? President Barack Obama’s hopes for a Middle East peace breakthrough might rest heavily on that question.
The force being shaped for the West Bank is supposed to underpin the Palestinian government of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas against violent challenges by Hamas, other extremists and criminal gangs, while convincing Israel that having a Palestinian state for a neighbor will pose no threat.
The Associated Press, granted rare access to the recruits in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, heard complaints that they are restricted to islands of limited authority in the Israeli-controlled territory, can’t make a move without Israel’s permission, are outgunned by Hamas, and lack riot and protective gear because of Israeli import restrictions.
Distrust runs both ways. Israel’s concerns are weighted by memories of a previous Palestinian security force, some of whose members ended up turning their guns against Israeli targets during the Palestinian uprising that broke out in 2000.
However, on Thursday, Israel announced it was easing its grip to allow the forces to operate round the clock in four West Bank towns. It added that Israeli forces would continue to operate in the West Bank “to thwart terrorist operations.”
The West Bank’s various security forces already number about 24,000 Palestinians, including police. These forces were troubled in the past by corruption, overlapping mandates, poor training and damaging Israeli raids, and in recent years there have been repeated attempts to reform them.
The new force is different, said Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator in the region.
“What we have created are new men,” he told a Washington think tank last month. “For the first time, I think it’s fair to say that the Palestinian security forces feel they are on a winning team.”
