Sarid Becomes First Minister to Visit Autonomous Jericho

Environment Minister Yossi Sarid this week become the first Cabinet minister to pay an official visit to the autonomous Jericho district in the West Bank.

Sarid, a member of the left-wing Meretz bloc who played a key role in the autonomy negotiations, said during Wednesday’s visit that the Palestinians were doing a good job of organizing their affairs.

He added that the Israeli government had no complaints about the way the newly formed Palestinian police force was controlling the autonomous entity.

“It is very much in our interest to see the Palestinian police function well, and we will do everything we can to help them,” said Sarid.

Jericho and the Gaza Strip became autonomous Palestinian entities last month.

Among those whom Sarid met while in Jericho were Faisal Husseini and Jabril Rajoub.

Husseini is one of the newly named members of the Palestinian governing authority, which has overall responsibility for overseeing Palestinian affairs in Jericho and Gaza. Rajoub is head of all Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

Sarid noted that the status of Jerusalem had not been raised during his discussions with the Palestinian leaders, although the issue of whether the Palestinians will be able to maintain offices in eastern Jerusalem has been a matter of sharp controversy in Israel over the past two weeks.

Sarid also said there had been no discussion of a recent Israeli order banning Rajoub from leaving Jericho. The order had been issued after Rajoub had allegedly incited Palestinians living in the territories and in Israel.

During his visit, Sarid went to Jericho’s ancient synagogue, the scene of recent conflicts between the Palestinian police and groups of Israeli settlers, who have repeatedly charged that the synagogue has been desecrated by the police.

“I think the Palestinian police behave toward them (the settlers) with respect and that there have been some episodes here during which the settlers have not reciprocated that respect. And I think this constitutes more than a little provocation,” Sarid said.

“We’ve got to get it straight: if their (the settlers’) presence in the synagogue is for the purpose of prayer and study, that’s just fine. But if their purpose is political, if their being here is a political act, then we have to take a different stand. From what I’ve seen over the past few weeks and days, I’m inclined to think their purpose is far more political than spiritual,” he said.

He advocated keeping an eye on the settlers to prevent provocations from escalating into outright conflict. But he firmly opposes preventing settlers from attending the synagogue, which he said is their right according to the Cairo accord.