Ya'alon: Israel Will Be Fine Without Security Coordination With Palestinians

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon dismissed threats to discontinue the security coordination made by senior Palestinian officials on Friday.

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"The security coordination is more important for the [Palestinian] Authority than for us," Ya'alon told Channel 2. "We'll be fine without the security coordination. These are idle threats."

The Palestinian threats followed the death of Ziad Abu Ein, who died after a confrontation with Israeli security forces in a protest in the West Bank, near Ramallah.

Palestinian President Abbas condemned Abu Ein's death, and said it was an "act of barbarity that cannot be accepted or ignored," and added the Palestinians will take action against Israel in response. Palestinian high officials gathered in Ramallah to discuss the issue of security coordination with Israel, and Jibril Rajoub, a Fatah top official, said the Authority intends to stop the coordination.

On Friday, after a Palestinian man attacked and wounded six Israelis with acid in the West Bank, south of Jerusalem, a high ranking Israeli officer said the security coordination with the Palestinians is ongoing, and that "with regards to activity against Hamas and terrorism everything is going on as usual."

However, the officer added that "there are occasional hiccups [with the coordination]."