It is not clear whether the US will agree to see the expected changes in the Palestinian security mechanisms as a response to its demand to bring about a profound change in the Palestinian government, as a condition for promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

                                                                           By Mati Cohen, editor of The Israeli Palestinian Post

The Palestinian Authority complies with the American demand to bring about a profound change and will replace the heads of the Palestinian security mechanisms in April. The US demanded that Abu Mazen bring about a political change, that is, at the political level in which he is responsible for the security mechanisms; but Abu Mazen decided to bring about the change in the security mechanisms; Apparently political change is beyond Abu Mazen's powers now, also against the background of the possibility that Hamas will join the PLO after the war, and any political change will require his consent.

Now it is not clear if the Americans will agree to see the change that Abu Mazen intends to bring about in the security mechanisms, as a full response to their demand for a change in the Palestinian government. A Palestinian source said that notice of the expected changes in the security mechanisms had already been passed on to the Americans and they expressed satisfaction about it. If the US's final position is that the changes do not fulfill its demand for political change, an American-Palestinian crisis may develop, which will delay US support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian source said that the US pledged to Abu Mazen to work towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, but it conditioned this on its demands to bring about deep changes in the Palestinian government.

As part of the changes expected in April in the security mechanisms, the heads of countersecurity, national security and the Palestinian police will be replaced. The head of Palestinian intelligence Faraj will not be replaced, as his political power is too great to be replaced. Faraj even sees himself as a candidate to replace Abu Mazen when the Palestinian president retires.