US plans to eliminate security office coordinating with Palestinian Authority

The Trump administration plans to eliminate the position of US security coordinator for the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to several media reports.

US General Mike Fenzel, who has held the position since 2021, was told last week that his position is going to be cut, with an announcement due in the coming weeks, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Axios reported earlier that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was weighing axing the position, but has yet to make a decision, although Fenzel told colleagues he believes his position will be eliminated. 

The US Security Coordinator’s (USSC) office is a little-known post, but it is the most public centrepiece of the US’s defence engagement with the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security services.

The position was created in 2005 to train PA security forces and foster coordination with Israel. The Jerusalem office is tied to the US State Department, but its chief is a US general.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

Questions about the USSC’s fate have swirled publicly since 22 April, when Rubio unveiled a list of offices that will be part of his reorganisation of the State Department. The USSC was not listed among the departments and Bureaus.

The USSC coordinates arms supplies and training to the Palestinian security services. It is also a channel of communication between Israel and the PA when ties between them are tense or downgraded.

The Central Intelligence Agency also plays a role in providing support to the PA’s security services clandestinely, officials say.

US-PA ties uncertain

The Times of Israel reported that the Trump administration is not considering eliminating the position as a matter of policy, but as part of a wider cost-saving drive.

Regardless, if the USSC is eliminated, it would signal a swift downgrade in the administration’s priorities. The Biden administration put a renewed focus on the USSC as part of its post-war planning for the Gaza Strip.

Middle East Eye reported in June 2024 that former senior US officials circulated a plan for US Central Command to become more involved in coordinating with the PA’s security services as part of post-war Gaza planning. A slew of the Biden administration’s plans for post-war Gaza never materialised.

After a brief ceasefire announced in January, Israel resumed its war on Gaza in March with Trump’s support.

The PA did pitch itself to Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, as a security force that could combat Hamas in Gaza during a meeting in Riyadh, MEE revealed previously.

But the next month, Trump unveiled his plan for the US to take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into a “Middle East Riviera.” He has backed off that plan for now, but has not mentioned the PA.

Meanwhile, the UAE has been lobbying the Trump administration against an Arab League plan that would entail an enhanced and Egyptian-trained PA providing security in the post-war Gaza Strip.

If the USSC position is eliminated, it would further reduce the US’s footprint of senior officials with the PA. Hans Wechsel, who headed the State Department’s Office for Palestinian Affairs, resigned from his post in March. The Trump administration has yet to fill that position.

Inside Israel’s government, voices have grown louder for Israel to officially annex the occupied West Bank, which the Office of Palestinian Affairs and USSC mainly oversees.

middleeasteye.net