https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-palestinian-official-says-pa-no-longer-sharing-intelligence-with-cia/

The Palestinian Authority security services will stop sharing information with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in protest of Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank, a senior Palestinian official said Thursday.

“It has been 48 hours that the American Intelligence Service have been notified that the agreement with them is no longer in force,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

“Security cooperation with the US no more. Security cooperation with Israel no more,” he added.

The PA government cut all ties with the Trump administration in 2017, accusing US President Donald Trump of pro-Israel bias for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Certain non-political relations were maintained, however, including between the PA security services and the CIA.

The exact details of the information sharing is not public but is thought to concern Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas.

Erekat, speaking via video link from the West Bank city of Jericho, did not provide specific details on what the announcement would mean on the ground.

The US embassy in Jerusalem declined to comment on his statement.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously served as CIA chief, said Wednesday he hoped security cooperation would continue.

Also Thursday, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh met with the heads of Palestinian security to discuss ending coordination with Israel.

“Israel’s annexation of any parts of the West Bank constitutes an existential threat to the Palestinian national project and an end to the two-state solution,” Shtayyeh was quoted saying by the Wafa news agency. “Israel has breached international law and violated all the agreements signed with us, whether the political, security, economic, and legal agreements. From now on, we will no longer abide by these agreements.”

According to the Haaretz daily, Palestinian security forces began withdrawing Thursday from the West Bank’s Areas B and C to Area A, which is under full PA control.

Under the Oslo peace accords, Area A is under full PA control, Area B is under Israeli security control, with certain exceptions where Palestinians maintain limited security control, and Area C is fully administered by Israel.

Citing Palestinian sources, the newspaper said Israel has been updated about the development and the retreat largely affects the Palestinian civilian populations in Areas B and C.

The report was not immediately confirmed by Israel.

The ramifications of such a withdrawal were not immediately clear.

On Tuesday night, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced an end to all agreements with Israel and the US over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intention to annex key parts of the West Bank.

In a speech, Abbas pointed to the coalition agreement between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, which allows the new government to annex areas designated for Israel under Trump’s peace plan as soon as July 1.

These areas include Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley — a key strategic area that makes up around a third of the West Bank.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas heads a leadership meeting at his headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 19, 2020. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via AP)

Palestinians say the US plan ends prospects for a two-state solution to their decades-long conflict with Israel.

Abbas has made threats to end security coordination with the Jewish state multiple times, without ultimately following through.

According to a Channel 12 report Thursday, a senior Palestinian official conveyed to Israel that despite Abbas’s declaration on the severing of ties, at least some aspects of security cooperation will continue.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-to-withdraw-us-from-open-skies-treaty-with-russia/

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump announced Thursday he plans to withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty with Russia, the third arms control pact Trump has abrogated since coming to office.

The US leader said Moscow had not stuck to its commitments under the 18-year-old pact, which was designed to improve military transparency and confidence between the superpowers.

“Russia did not adhere to the treaty,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “So until they adhere, we will pull out.”

Responding to the announcement, Russia said a US withdrawal from the treat would be a blow to European security.

“The withdrawal by the US from this treaty would be not only a blow to the foundation of European security… but to the key security interests of the allies of the US,” Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency.

Grushko, who is the deputy minister overseeing relations with NATO and the European Union, said Trump was trying to justify the exit from a “fundamental treaty” via “technical issues” that should be resolved within the treaty.

“Nothing prevents continuing the discussions over the technical issues which the US is misrepresenting as violations by Russia,” he said.

The New York Times reported that Trump plans to inform Moscow of the move on Friday, and that it could be a prelude to Washington also withdrawing from the New START Treaty, which limits the number of nuclear missiles the United States and Russia can deploy.

The Open Skies agreement between Russia, the United States and 32 other countries, mostly members of the NATO alliance, permits one country’s military to conduct a certain number of surveillance flights over another each year on short notice.

The aircraft can survey the territory below, collecting information and pictures of military installations and activities.

The idea is that the more rival militaries know about each other, the less the chance of conflict between them.

But the sides also use the flights to examine vulnerabilities of their opponent.

The United States has been frustrated that Russia will not permit US flights over areas where Washington believes Moscow is deploying medium-range nuclear weapons that threaten Europe.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Russia “flagrantly, continuously violates its obligations” under the pact.

Moscow “implements the treaty in ways that contribute to military threats against the United States and our allies and partners,” he said.

He cited Russia’s refusal to allow flights over areas where Washington believes Moscow is deploying medium-range nuclear weapons, including the Baltic Sea city of Kaliningrad and near the Russia-Georgia border.

Last year Moscow also blocked flights meant to survey Russian military exercises, normally allowed under the pact.

The New York Times said Trump was also unhappy about a Russian flight over his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey three years ago.

“In this era of great power competition, we are looking to advocate for agreements that benefit all sides, and that include partners who comply responsibly with their obligations,” Hoffman said.

Since coming to office in January 2017, Trump has withdrawn from two other major arms control pacts, the 2015 JCPOA agreement to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear weapons program, and the 1988 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.

In both cases Trump accused the other side of violating treaty requirements.