Palestinian sources say Egypt was recently engaged in conciliatory efforts between the two most powerful security men in the Palestinian Authority (PA), reports the Israeli daily Haaretz.
The two are Jibril Rajoub, national security adviser to PA Chairman Yassir Arafat, and Muhammad Dahlan, former security minister in Mahmoud ‘Abbas’s government.
Rajoub is considered the strongman of the West Bank, and used to head the preventive security organization in that area. Dahlan is considered the hard man of the Gaza Strip, though he currently holds no official position. In previous years, Dahlan headed the preventive security organization in the Gaza Strip. A year ago he was appointed as minister for security affairs, but lost his post when ‘Abbas’s government resigned four months later.
Tension built up between the two over the years. Egypt knows that in order to stabilize the rocking Palestinian boat, reconciliation between them is necessary.
The Palestinian media has reported extensively on the Egyptian mediation efforts over the past few months. Egypt’s head of intelligence ‘Umar Suleiman, visited the area a few times, and met various officials in the PA. The Palestinian media reported that Egypt advised Arafat to coalesce all 13 Palestinian security organizations into a single body.
Now it is suggested that Dahlan, who has held no official job for the past seven months, will receive a position in any unified security body.