US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV960

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000960 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, EAID, PREL, KPAL, KWBG, IS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: EU COPPS STRESS DONOR COORDINATION WHILE BUILDING 
AN EFFECTIVE PA POLICE FORCE 
 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary: The director of the EU's police reform 
program, Jonathan McIvor, told the DCM and emboffs February 
15 that a lack of credibility among the population is the 
biggest problem facing the PA police, due in large part to 
the fact that it is militants rather than the police that 
"stand up to" the IDF.  In addition, an over-emphasis by the 
international community on training in the '90s, as well as a 
politically-induced focus on ensuring Israeli security rather 
than Palestinian law and order, among other problems, also 
contribute to the challenges facing the police today.  The EU 
program, known as EU COPPS (Coordinating Office for 
Palestinians Police Support) focuses exclusively on the civil 
police, working to coordinate and focus donor activity on 
police development, as well as helping the police themselves 
develop a transitional plan.  McIvor's office is working on 
language to further define a mission statement and clear 
roles for the PA police that he hopes will be included in 
pending PLC legislation governing the police.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Jonathan McIvor, the EU-appointed police advisor 
attached to the Office of EU Special Representative to the 
Middle East Marc Otte, briefed DCM and embassy officers 
February 15 on the EU COPPS program (Coordinating Office for 
Palestinian Police Support).  McIvor, seconded to Otte's 
office from the Northern Ireland police service, was 
accompanied by EU COPPS Program Director Henrik Stiernblad, 
seconded from his position as a chief superintendent in the 
Swedish Police.  McIvor said that his team currently consists 
of four members, a number that could increase slightly over 
time as needs dictate.  McIvor and Stiernblad are based in 
Jerusalem, while the remaining two members are co-located 
with the PA police, one in Ramallah (in the Ministry of 
Interior) and the other in Gaza City. 
 
-------------------- 
The Role of EU COPPS 
-------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) McIvor said that the EU, mindful of the leading 
U.S. role on PA security matters, has crafted the EU COPPS 
program to be aimed solely at the civil police.  McIvor 
stressed that EU COPPS is intended to be a mentoring and 
coordination effort, rather than what he termed a 
"substitution mission" such as Bosnia or Iraq, where 
international players have maintained law and order -- hence 
the small size of the office and the emphasis on co-location 
with police commanders.  Having identified donor coordination 
as one of the primary needs, McIvor said he sees part of his 
role as ensuring "discipline among EU donors," so that they 
contribute towards a prioritized list of needs rather than 
simply providing from what they have on hand or can procure 
from national sources.  McIvor also mentioned that the EU 
intends to consider in late February the possibility of 
transferring the EU COPPS operation to the control of the 
European Defense and Security Policy Mission. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
PA Civil Police: A "Fatah Employment Agency" 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) McIvor said that there are some 18,600 police 
working in WB/G: 12,000 in the Gaza Strip and 6,600 in the 
West Bank.  He speculated that the large imbalance in numbers 
reflects the continued role that Israeli security forces play 
in the West Bank and the greater freedom of movement for 
police there in the Gaza Strip, due to a lack of Israeli 
forces on the ground.  Furthermore, the PA has traditionally 
viewed the security services, and the police in particular, 
as a "Fatah employment agency," so the number of police is 
not truly reflective of the number needed. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Lack of Public Confidence is the Biggest Problem 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
5.  (SBU) Much of the physical infrastructure of the PA 
police has been destroyed, from the precinct offices to 
computers and vehicles, McIvor said, but the larger problem 
facing the police is their lack of credibility among 
Palestinians.  From the Palestinian perspective, he 
continued, the biggest threat facing the population is the 
Israeli army, against which stand only militant organizations 
such as Hamas.  Civil police can only flee or stand inactive 
during IDF incursions.  Police credibility also suffers from 
the organization's connection to the unpopular Palestinian 
Authority.  Furthermore, McIvor said that the PA police force 
is relatively new, created only in 1994, and views itself 
more as the protector of the nascent Palestinian state (like 
an army), rather than as the less glamorous keeper of public 
order.  An over-emphasis by the international community on 
training in the '90s, as well as a politically-induced focus 
on ensuring Israeli, rather than Palestinian, security, also 
contribute to the challenges facing the police today. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Closely Followed by an Unclear Mission 
-------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) McIvor said that the police lack a clear mission 
statement, a situation that will not be remedied by the 
adoption of pending PLC legislation regulating the police. 
His office is working on inserting language in the draft law 
that will clearly define roles and obligations, rather than 
focusing on ranks and rates of pay.  Stressing that 
"accountability is key," McIvor acknowledged that the police 
do not act without direct orders, and are not empowered by 
the laws and regulations currently governing their activity. 
 
7.  (SBU) Once such foundations are codified in a basic law, 
McIvor intends to work with the PA to develop a 
transformational plan.  Saying that what he gets currently 
from the PA are "aspirational statements and wish lists," 
McIvor said that PM Chief of Staff Hasan Abu Libdah has 
promised to provide a list of empowered interlocutors, 
possibly including individuals from the PM's office as well 
as some district-level representatives to work with McIvor to 
develop the plan.  He said that Nasser Yusuf, the 
acknowledged leading candidate for Minister of Interior is a 
"smart guy," but worried whether Yusuf might be too 
"operationally focused," to the detriment of long-term 
planning. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
The System, and not Just the Police, Needs Re-Vamping 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
8.  (SBU) The police lack a community policing ethos, McIvor 
said, but often manage to successfully mediate problems in 
the community -- a skill honed in the absence of authority to 
do much else.  McIvor pointed out the existence of parallel 
family- and tribal-based justice systems that prevail in much 
of the Arab world, including in PA-controlled areas.  The 
Norwegians, under the EU COPPS umbrella, are interested in 
programs to promote community involvement with and acceptance 
of the role of the police, he added. 
 
9.  (SBU) Stiernblad pointed out that not only do the police 
need assistance, but that the entire criminal justice system 
also needs attention.  The PA lacks a criminal procedure code 
and clear regulations governing the conduct of the entire 
process, from apprehension, through the investigation, the 
trial, and eventual incarceration.  Right now, for example, 
the police are in charge of maintaining convicted felons, a 
task which Stiernblad feels should be spun off to a separate 
prison service as in other countries.  These issues are 
fundamental elements of state-building, he concluded, and not 
just ones of security. 
 
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