Pentagon weighs downgrading rank of U.S. Palestinian security post

The Pentagon is contemplating downgrading the put up of the official in control of safety coordination with the Palestinian Authority from the rank of three-star basic to that of a colonel, 4 present and former U.S. officers and two Israeli officers informed Axios.

Why it issues: The State Division and the Israeli Protection Ministry are involved such a call may damage safety cooperation between the U.S. and Palestinians and harm safety coordination between Israeli and Palestinian officers as tensions escalate within the occupied West Financial institution.

Driving the information: In latest months, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, has laid out a plan for decreasing the variety of generals and admirals per the 2017 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, present and former U.S. officers say.

• The Trump administration determined an enormous a part of the reduce wanted to return from U.S. generals and admirals posted in bases and positions around the globe.
• The plan contains downgrading the rank of the U.S. safety coordinator with the Palestinians from a three-star basic to that of a colonel, in accordance with present and former U.S. officers.
• The ranks of the U.S. army attachés in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would even be downgraded.

Background: The U.S. safety coordinator (USSC) put up was created in 2005 in an effort to rebuild and reform the Palestinian safety companies after the second intifada.

• The coordinator has all the time been a three-star U.S. basic who reported to the secretary of state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers.
• The coordinator’s senior rank permits direct entry to the highest army and political echelons within the U.S., Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
• The safety coordinator workforce additionally contains army consultants from eight completely different NATO international locations.

Behind the scenes: The State Division has been pushing again in opposition to the Pentagon plan, primarily on the problem of the us put up with the Palestinians, but in addition about different posts within the Center East, the U.S. officers stated.

• Secretary of State Tony Blinken despatched a letter to Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin stressing reservations over the plan, in accordance with present and former U.S. officers.
• U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides urged the Pentagon in opposition to the plan and requested different senior officers, together with CIA Director Invoice Burns, to weigh in, a supply briefed on the problem informed me.
• The present U.S. safety coordinator, Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, stated in a closed session at a assume tank in Washington a number of weeks in the past that he’s involved that downgrading the put up may hurt the mission and harm safety coordination between Israel and the Palestinians, in accordance with an individual who attended the occasion.
• Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of protection for coverage, is predicted to current to Austin later this week completely different choices for preserving the us and different positions within the Center East, a former U.S. official stated.

The Israeli authorities can be involved concerning the plan’s ramifications, a senior Israeli official stated. The Palestinians additionally object, in accordance with one other supply.

• The State Division and Division of Protection didn’t reply to requests for remark.

What they’re saying: “At a time when Israelis, Palestinians and plenty of Arab states are all on the lookout for indicators that the U.S. stays dedicated to the area, downgrading the us and different regional army attachés makes little sense,” stated former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who at the moment serves as a distinguished fellow within the Atlantic Council’s Center East applications.

• Shapiro informed me the us, specifically, continues to play a vital function in sustaining Israeli-Palestinian safety cooperation. “Particularly on the eve of President Biden’s first journey to the area, it might ship precisely the incorrect message,” he stated.
• He added that the Biden administration appears to know that, and “there are obvious efforts underway to reverse these ill-advised selections they inherited.”