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A member of the Palestinian security apparatus: "We are desperate - what do we exist for?" | Israel today

2023-02-04T15:19:43.246Z


Difficult atmosphere within the Palestinian security mechanisms • There is no motivation to act against Jihad and Hamas: "Our job is to take care of Abu Mazen's interests and be agents of Israel?" • Former Palestinian security official: "It used to be considered prestigious to work in the mechanisms - it has eroded and today there is less demand" • "We don't mind returning to full occupation under a military government like it used to be"


Disturbing testimony: A

member of the Palestinian security apparatus described a demoralized atmosphere and low morale within the apparatus, a trend that has been strengthening in recent times at the same time as the escalation in the field and the gradual weakening of the Palestinian Authority.

"We are desperate. What are we doing? Who are we working for? There is no value and no purpose," he testified.

"When they established the mechanisms, it was part of a big plan that would eventually lead to a state. The reason for the existence of the Palestinian Authority in the first place was to establish a Palestinian state. After all these years, there is an authority but no state, so what do we exist for? To get salaries and take care of Abu Mazen's interests and be Agents of Israel? We have become subcontractors. There is no horizon in any field, neither in politics nor socially-economically."

Abu Mazen // Photo: AFP

A Palestinian source tells Israel Hayom that hard feelings and a lack of motivation prevail in the ranks of the Palestinian security apparatus.

"People who work in the mechanisms feel that there is no meaning to what they do, and that the Authority is slowly falling apart. They feel that there is no effect on their position and that it is not beneficial to them personally nor to the Palestinian people. Once they were told that they were doing something important and good for the homeland and they really believed it, now they are starting Wake up from the illusion, and see that everything is one big fraud. There is a moral breakdown in the mechanisms, and there is no motivation to act against Hamas and Jihad."

The desperation of the existing situation even causes some of them to ponder the idea of ​​returning to the life that existed before the Oslo agreements and before the establishment of the PA.

"The situation is only deteriorating, the PA is not as strong as it once was. It has not been able to fulfill the Palestinian dream, and the occupation is only deepening. In such a situation, the PA has no role except to maintain Israel's security, we do not mind returning to full occupation under a military government as it was in the past. If Israel, the Shin Bet and the Israeli security establishment are the main rulers anyway, then it is better that there is no authority, and that other ways be found to manage affairs, that Israel take care of municipal services and garbage collection," he said.

A former Palestinian security official told "Israel Hayom" that the Palestinian security mechanisms have lost the great prestige they enjoyed in the past, and that many of the servants do not feel the same sense of honor and pride.

"Once everyone wanted to be a part and mobilize, it was considered something big for them and also for the Palestinian issue. Today it is different, the image of the mechanisms has eroded, and it is less attractive to serve in them."

Palestinian protesters in Nablus against the PA's security mechanisms following the arrest of Hamas members (archive), photo: AFP

"Beyond the erosion of prestige, there is a lack of trust in the leaders. When you see that your leadership is tainted with corruption, and when there is a leader who speaks two languages, embraces the Israelis on the one hand and gives them what they want, and on the other hand they don't let you free your homeland and fight the occupation, then you ask what I earn and what do I get out of it," explained the source.

Day by day, the Palestinian Authority loses public trust, and becomes weaker.

Not only in the security mechanisms there is resentment from the authority's leadership and its functioning.

Public officials also see it as a troublesome body that has not proven itself in the test of time.

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2023-02-04

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