$250 million to Rebuild Palestinian Security Force

Dahlan Needs $250 million to Rebuild Palestinian Security Forces

Palestinian Minister of State for Security Affairs, Mohamed Dahlan, is seeking $250 million from international donors to re-qualify Palestinian officers and rebuild police posts destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the past three years.

Dahlan said the rebuilding will take three years, according to a statement released late Friday by the Palestinian Interior Ministry.

The senior Palestinian security official said that that the police have 150 new patrol cars and work is underway to double the current monthly police budget of $1 million. About $25 million is being put into building command and operations centers and $22 million is being spent on computer equipment.

Soon after the Palestinian Intifada against the 36-year Israeli occupation broke out in September of 2000, Israel sent warplanes and helicopter gun-ships to level police posts and security headquarters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alleging that the Palestinian police were involved in some attacks on Israelis. Palestinian officials denied the accusations.

The two-month-old “roadmap” peace plan, pushed hard by the United States, calls on Israel to withdraw forces from Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza and for Palestinian police to take control of those areas.

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