JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Authority said Tuesday that it was resuming its cooperation with Israel, ending six months of financial hardship for tens of thousands of West Bank residents and signalling relief over the election of Joe Biden.
Mr Abbas cut off security coordination with Israel, raising fears that attacks might go unprevented. He also severed civilian ties, including those that help Palestinians travel into Israel for work or medical treatment. The annexation plans were shelved, not cancelled, and not in response to the Palestinians' kamikaze-style pressure tactics.
In effect, the election of Mr Biden, who has stated his opposition to unilateral moves by Israel, gave the Palestinians the assurances they needed. Palestinian leaders had abundant reasons to resume cooperation with Israel and few reasons not to. Their banks, whose liquidity had been depleted by the self-inflicted cash crunch, had informed them they could no longer lend the Palestinian Authority money, endangering its ability to operate.
More on this topic Ms Diana Buttu, a former adviser to the Palestinian negotiations team who is now often critical of Mr Abbas, said that some officials in Ramallah had argued to"take a pause" before resuming cooperation with Israel, reasoning that"returning to the status quo ante is what brought us the status quo."
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