This is the first Academic Research which the Middle East Post publishes on it pages. The research studies the Palestinian security forces situation since the signing of Oslo agreement and until the Hamas take over of Gaza.
Professor Oren Barrack about the seminar paper: “This is an interesting paper that discusses the relationship between the civilian and security
realms in the Palestinian Authority (PA) from the Oslo Agreement to Hamas’s takeover of Gaza. Theoretically, it employs Huntington’s book from 1957 on civil-military relations and Barak & Sheffer’s “security network” approach. Empirically, the paper draw mostly on interviews conducted with former PA security officials. The paper reads well, though there are, occasionally, some errata. It also presents several interesting insights regarding the civilsecurity
relationship in the Palestinian Territories during the Oslo period, particularly
regarding the lack of professionalism and the informal ties that existed between security officials and Fatah, businessmen, and foreign actors and the way they obstructed “objective” civilian control there, in addition to Israel’s involvement. This helps explain the weakness of the Palestinian security apparatuses in that period.

The research is not for republishing or copy use. Any plagiarism or misuse of the research will be faced by law.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Faculty of Social Sciences
International Relations Department

Seminar Paper
The Establishment and structure of the Palestinian security forces since Oslo Agreement and until the latest division between Gaza and the West Bank
Army and Politics in the Middle East
Lecturer: Prof. Oren Barack
Writer: Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

July 2010