Maj. Gen. Yoav "Poli" Mordechai, coordinator of government activities in the territories, decided Oct. 28 to revoke the VIP pass that Israel had given Gen. Adnan al-Damiri, the Palestinian Authority (PA) security services' spokesman. This pass, which Israel confers on high-level PA officials, enables them to enter Israel from the PA side.

It guarantees them a speedy, unimpeded entrance, bypassing inspections at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) barriers scattered throughout the West Bank. Mordechai made his decision after Damiri’s statements in recent months against Israel’s policies in the territories and especially against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Damiri convened a news conference in Ramallah on Oct. 23 after the hit-and-run terror attack in Jerusalem in which two Israelis were killed. Damiri remonstrated against the killing by Israel of the driver Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi (according to Damiri), even before it had been proven beyond a doubt that Shaludi intended to kill Israelis. Furthermore, Damiri said that the Palestinian security services would sooner or later track down the people who sold their houses in Arab Jerusalem neighborhoods to right-wing activists. He emphasized that the sellers would not escape their punishment. But what really infuriated Israel was Damiri’s comparison of Netanyahu to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Damiri’s position is parallel to that of an IDF spokesman. His position is considered a senior one, carrying much influence within the PA. By virtue of this position, Damiri enjoys access to all the security mechanisms' centers in the authority; he is also the one in charge of their coordination. Damiri’s position is particularly charged and sensitive, in light of the close security cooperation between the PA and Israel. This cooperation continues to exist despite the great tension between the sides, and despite that the very existence of the security cooperation is much criticized by Palestinian public opinion.