“Israel enters at night and wants me to guard during the day.” Governor of Jenin Akram Rajov in his office (Photo: Yuval Avraham)
The day before Nablus burned, after the Palestinian security forces arrested a Hamas operative wanted by Israel, I parked the car in front of the thwarted security headquarters in Jenin, a kind of Palestinian version of the Shin Bet. An impressive stone structure, surrounded by a wall and tall guard towers, built with the help of the European Union. Next to me stood several armed men in uniform. Across the road, a branch of Pizza Hut, where I was waiting for a security guard to take me to a meeting with the Governor of Jenin, Akram Rajoub.
The street is bustling with people. A boulevard with palm and pine trees, a large sign that reads “The Heroes”, with the names of the six escapees from Gilboa Prison; A police station, a bus station, a KFC restaurant, an armed Palestinian in tight khaki pants wandering around. Then they called me.
Rajov’s bodyguard drove a car with tinted windows, and the inside smelled strongly of cherries. Rajov welcomed me in his office, on the top floor of the building, a spacious room, covered with wood, on the wall pictures of Abu Mazen and Yasser Arafat.
In recent weeks, Shin Bet chief Ronan Bar and Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi blamed the security mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority for the deterioration of the security situation. According to them, the Authority created “fertile ground for terrorism” and revealed “incompetence” and “lack of governance” in the north of the West Bank. The Jenin refugee camp, located a few hundred meters from Rajoub’s office, was cited as an example of this “lack of governance.” The PA rarely enters these areas, and when it makes arrests there, often at Israel’s request, it encounters armed resistance, which also causes widespread public outrage. A day later, in Nablus, such an arrest led to large-scale clashes between hundreds of residents and the PA’s security forces.
Rajov devoted a major part of the interview to rebutting these claims against the PA. Israel, he said, is responsible for the situation, by deliberately acting to weaken the authority and undermine its power. In order to bring about a change in the situation, Rajov said, Israel needs to stop confiscating the PA’s tax money and impoverishing it financially, reduce to a minimum the army’s incursions into Jenin, which makes it difficult for the security mechanisms to operate there themselves, and above all: return to negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In the first nine months of 2022, 34 Palestinians were killed by army and police fire in Jenin and its neighboring villages. This is the most deaths in the district of the entire period between 2009 and 2021. This is a dramatic change. The estimates, based on the reports of the army and other sources, about 65% of the dead participated in armed conflicts.
The turning point, the data shows, was in the events of May last year. This year, after the murder of Israeli citizens in the cities of Bnei Brak, Elad, and Tel Aviv by Palestinians who came from the Jenin area, the military presence and arrests in the city and villages increased greatly.
He refused to define the danger in Dizengoff as a “terrorist”. The Ilka Bar on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv after the attack by Red Hazem (Photo: Oren Ziv)
Boiled the Israelis
In April, Rajov caused a small stir after he said in an interview, in Hebrew, to “Khan Reshet B”, that he “does not consider” Red Hazem, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp who murdered three people on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, a “terrorist”. At the beginning of the interview Rajov said that “everyone is against murder” but “Israel has pushed the Palestinian people into a corner”, and asked the interviewers, Gal Berger and Liat Regev, if they say that the army soldiers who go in “and kill, even innocent people, are terrorists”. Berger replied that there is no symmetry, and that soldiers do not come with the first intention of murder.
In his office, Rajov said that the statement “boiled the Israeli side”, and in his opinion this is the reason why he was stripped of the VIP status, which is given to the Palestinian political elite, and allows its members to enter Jerusalem and Israel.
Rajoub was appointed governor of Jenin province four years ago. The 11 governors in the West Bank, including in Jerusalem, are personally financed by President Mahmoud Abbas. They have a decisive influence on the security mechanisms and even have the authority to arrest Palestinians without trial. Rajov, a Fatah man, was born in the southern West Bank, in the town of Dora, and learned Hebrew during the decade he spent in an Israeli prison. He was released during the Oslo period and immediately joined the thwarted security mechanisms when they were established, in 1994, and advanced to a senior rank.
What is the biggest change you see since Oslo and the nineties in Palestinian society?
“Then we had hope that a Palestinian state would be established. There was a clearer political horizon, and the relationship with the Israelis was also better. Israel and the Palestinian Authority understood each other and complied with the agreements that were signed.
“It started to change with the Wai Agreement, and then at Camp David in 2000. It became clear that the Israeli side is not ready to provide a solution that is in line with the Palestinian demands. From a state of hope in the nation to an independent state and a capital city, the entire political horizon disappeared. When this happened, the drums of war They started pounding. There was mutual violence. Our people will not raise a white flag for occupation. This is how we deteriorated, until we reached today’s situation.”
How would you define the situation today?
“The Palestinian people have lost hope in the future. There is nothing worse than making a person lose hope in the future.”
“We have not stopped operating in the Jenin refugee camp.” Armed men at the funeral of a Palestinian killed in the Jenin camp at the beginning of the month (Photo: Nasser Ashtaia / Flash 90)
What does Israel want from us?
In the media in Israel, quite a bit has been written about the fact that the Authority is not functioning in Jenin. It was said that Israel wants to strengthen the PA, so that the mechanisms work effectively against Palestinian militants. What do you think?
“It is a lie echoed in the Israeli media. Israel does not work to strengthen the Palestinian Authority but to weaken it.
“If you refuse to grant me the most basic right to be the master of my destiny and to establish a country, then what do you want from me? You expect me to continue to keep you safe, without compensation? How do you want to strengthen us, as long as you invade our cities, kill people here , expand settlements, destroy houses, and confiscate our money?
“When the Israeli occupation decides to give the Palestinian people a state within the 1967 borders, at that very moment, in Israel they will discover that the Palestinian Authority can solve all its internal problems. But you don’t want to. And if someone says: ‘Okay, let’s live in one, binational state with them Rights and duties’, you don’t want either. So what do you want?”
What does Israel want?
“Security that will serve you and a Palestinian Authority that will serve you.”
Have you made a decision to stop operating in the Jenin refugee camp, as long as there is no political return from the Israeli side and the occupation continues?
“No. I didn’t say that. The problem is that at night Israel invades the camp, kills people, and during the day asks us to work there. We can’t work on the same slot together with the Israelis.”
Can Israel oblige you to work during the day?
“No. If I don’t want to do something, I don’t.”
Do they notify you when they come in?
“They inform only after they are inside. First a special unit enters, takes over the area, and then they inform. This is the nature of their work. We have more than thirty martyrs in Jenin, in less than a year. It affected security and all the people.”
Can’t pay salaries. Palestinian policemen block protesters during the visit of US President Barack Obama to Ramallah. March 21, 2013. (Kern Manor/Activstills)
Approaching the red line
If the PA does not have real sovereignty, why not return the keys to Israel?
“Because our people benefit from having control over internal issues. Despite all the effects of the occupation, we have a passport, which we issue. Identity cards, which we issue. Educational frameworks, which we manage, and health institutions and hospitals. We built the Palestinian Authority with blood, no We will give it up, that would be a mistake. Unless we reach a stage where we can no longer bear the situation.”
What is this stage? What is the red line?
“God knows. It’s hard for me to answer that for you.”
Does the authority have a strategy or a work plan to fulfill the national goals and establish a Palestinian state?
“To stay in our lands and homes, work with all diplomatic power to get the world to support the Palestinian issue, and thus push the Israeli government to recognize our right to establish a state.”
But this thing does not happen.
“It will happen. If not this year, then next year. Time has no meaning in the days of nations.”
According to all polls, the support rates for the Palestinian Authority and President Abbas are low, and getting worse. This is the result of governmental corruption, the arrest of dissidents, and above all the failure to obtain a Palestinian state through the negotiated path, which President Abbas chose.
Why doesn’t the Authority support, say, popular resistance? Is there anything stopping you from doing this?
“There is nothing that prevents it. But in light of the PA’s situation, we don’t have the resources to support popular resistance. There are no resources to pay the PA’s employees, so how will there be anything for popular resistance? Personally, I think popular resistance is better than armed resistance.”
We have no money to support popular resistance. The weekly demonstration in Beta against the Avitar outpost, February 5, 2022 (Photo: Oren Ziv)
There are many claims about corruption, money that stays with the officials and does not reach the people.
“This is an empty claim. Like any government, in any country, we can have problems, but to the degree that it is presented, no, it is not true. What funds does the authority have that do not reach the people? We are unable to pay the salaries of the employees. We depend on taxes that Israel collects on our behalf, and confiscates a portion of them every month.”
Draining the PA, enriching Hamas
Despite Rajov’s denial, the evidence of corruption rampant in the PA’s corridors is abundant. It likely stems from the economic crisis, alongside of course the obvious problem: it is impossible to maintain a functioning economy under a military regime, when the Palestinians have no airport, the possibility of developing Area C, access to Jerusalem, and control over borders and natural resources.
On top of that, Israel “conceives” the PA of about NIS 50 million every month, which is taken from the Palestinian taxpayer’s money. For every shekel that the Authority transfers to the families of security prisoners, it loses from the tax money that Israel collects for it at the border crossings.
This is a large amount. Israel has offset at least two billion shekels from the authority’s funds since the implementation of the law in 2019. About a quarter of the amount taken was given to the authority as a loan in two installments last year. The heads of the security establishment previously expressed opposition to these punitive measures, but the political echelon insisted.
How does the offset of funds affect you?
“We have no way to pay salaries. The PA employees do not receive full salaries. The PA fails to provide services properly. This affects the Palestinian economy greatly. And this is a deliberate move by Israel to weaken the PA. And the proof: why are you confiscating my money, and at the same time going to Qatar , brings money in suitcases, through Netanyahu and the Mossad, openly, and transfers the money to Hamas in Gaza? Because you want to weaken the PA here, and strengthen Hamas there.
“The money was taken with the excuse that it goes to the families of the prisoners and the martyrs. In Israeli logic, this encourages terrorism. But this is a ridiculous and incorrect concept. What did you do with Yitzhak Rabin’s killer? The number one terrorist, Yigal Amir? He is in prison, but his wife and children receive social security A salary from the government. Why is Israel allowed to provide for the family of the prime minister’s killer, and the Palestinian Authority is not allowed to provide for the families of the prisoners and martyrs, who in our view are heroes and freedom fighters?”
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Let’s move on to another topic. A central claim on the Palestinian street is that the members of the PA, the political elite, received benefits from Israel, and the permits VIP, and therefore they do not work to change the situation. Divide and rule. And this gives Israel a means of pressure.
“Freedom of movement does not guarantee freedom for a person. So what if I am allowed to enter Israel? What can I do there? Isn’t that a privilege that can be held on to?”
I know. It is clear to me that everyone is under occupation – from the president to the last of the workers. But why don’t you refuse? As long as there is an occupation, you will reject the system ofVIP The one that gives a little more to a limited group, and less to others.
“I don’t see that this is a problem. If someone has a VIP, and he wants to enter Israel. What can he do, eat fish in a restaurant? Maybe. I don’t think this situation gives the Israelis the opportunity to put pressure on us. Let’s say they take all the permits from the officials. Let them take. USA” B, with all its power, and Trump, did not change the Palestinian position, so will this Israeli pressure change the position of the leadership? No. The permits facilitate our movement. But in the end, even if you have one, you are stopped at the checkpoint. like anyone else. This is not a means of pressure against us. Straight and smooth”.
Gets an exemption at checkpoints. Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), in Ramallah, May 2020 (Photo: Flash 90)
VIP permits are divided into three levels, according to the importance of the position, according to a Civil Administration document that was updated this year.
The VIP1 permit is intended for PA officials and “other associates” of the PA chairman, namely Abu Mazen. They can fly through Israel, pass through the West Bank checkpoints without inspection, and travel in Israel in a vehicle with a Palestinian license plate. VIP2, a little less senior, are not allowed to fly through Israel, but are allowed to enter Israel, provided they do not sleep there. VIP3, these are “deputies, mayors, commanders of mechanisms”. They are allowed to enter Israel, but without easing the check at the checkpoint.
Go back to the negotiations
What immediate steps can Israel take to improve the situation of the Palestinian Authority?
“The first and most important step: to put the political issue back on the table between the parties. Let’s talk about the political future. Recognize our rights in our land. This is the most important step. It will give hope to the Palestinian people. Hope for the future. Hope that we are moving in the direction of understanding with the Israelis and national rights”.
What more?
“Second thing, that the Israelis reduce their entries, or stop completely, to our areas. And third thing, to release the money that is taken from us every month.”
There are those who will tell you: the train has passed. A split between Fatah and Hamas, the PA is barely supported by the Palestinian people, who do not feel represented by it, many now believe in an armed struggle. Maybe it was possible to reach such a political solution ten years ago with the PA, and now not anymore?
“You asked me what can be done. And I told you, this is what can be done. If it doesn’t happen, the Palestinian public will not agree to an interim solution. If this issue, of a state after 1967, no longer exists with the Israelis, then what is left?”