The Palestinian Authority is being permitted to open two new police stations, this time in the eastern Gush Etzion district, not far from the Jewish communities of Tekoa and Nokdim (El David).

According to information released by journalist Chaggai Huberman, the police stations will be opened in the Arab villages of Tuqwa and Sa’ir, permitting the personnel assigned to the stations to carry handguns and AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

When the news of the police stations was made public, the IDF released a statement that the armed personnel require the weapons to enforce the law in the Arab villages and self-defense, and they will not patrol Jewish areas or be found along Jewish roadways.

The move represents additional unilateral concessions being made by the current Israeli government to the Palestinian Authority as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert works at a brisk pace in the hope of achieving some kind of agreement with the PA as the police dragnet of alleged bribery, fraud and an array of other charges closes in on him – with many predicting his tenure in office may soon come to an abrupt end.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)