JERUSALEM: Israel allowed Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to receive a shipment of about 1,000 Kalashnikov rifles and tens of thousands of bullets in a step aimed at bolstering the moderate Palestinian government there, an Israeli defense official said yesterday.
Shipments of this type remain sensitive for Israel because weapons provided to Palestinian security forces during peace talks in the 1990s were used against Israelis when those talks broke down in violence in 2000. But balancing those concerns are fears that if moderate forces are too weak they might lose control of the West Bank to Hamas, the hard-line group that seized power in the Gaza Strip last year.
The weapons shipment reached the Palestinians through Jordan about one week ago, the Israeli official said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arranged the transfer when they met Aug. 31, he said.
Israel is under pressure to at least appear to be supporting Abbas as part of US-sponsored peace negotiations. However, critics both at home and abroad say Israel has not carried out key confidence-building measures, such as halting settlement activity and dismantling roadblocks, that could help the negotiations succeed.
The Palestinians, for their part, have been criticized for not doing enough to crack down on fighters, which is also seen as key to the talks’ success.
