Asa Winstanley and Kit Klarenberg
The Electronic Intifada
Secret files reveal the names of British agents who influenced the Palestinian Authority.
A cache of leaked documents obtained by The Electronic Intifada reveals the extent of British intelligence penetration of Palestinian Authority forces, including “daily direction” from a UK military officer.
The documents detail how shadowy British contractor Adam Smith International (ASI) has influenced the Palestinian Authority for almost 15 years.
They expose several military intelligence trainers, naming names for the first time.
Two of the British agents, including a likely MI6 officer, worked closely with Israeli spies.
Some ASI personnel who worked with the Palestinian Authority are named in the files as also working with the contractor’s controversial “Free Syrian Police” project.
The program used British government funds to support al-Qaida-linked groups fighting the Syrian government – inadvertently, ASI claims.
ASI training to the Palestinian Authority is done in Ramallah, Jericho and Jordan, under the ultimate command of a US general, and in coordination with Israel.
The Electronic Intifada used the same document cache to reveal in February that the contractor had carried out a secret British government project to spy on Palestinian refugee camps, with the aim of monitoring “criticism of Western and Israeli foreign policy.”
No comment
You can read extracts from the files on this page and some of the full documents at the end of this article. The cache has been publicly available from a file sharing site since October last year. The Electronic Intifada has chosen to publish only files it has reviewed and determined to be in the public interest.
ASI declined to comment, directing us to the Foreign Office for queries “regarding any particular project.” A spokesperson for the UK’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
The Electronic Intifada understands that ASI has been ordering those named in the leaked documents not to speak to this publication.
“It is important that you do not respond to these requests for information, and that you let us know if you are contacted,” ASI director Daniel Pimlott wrote in one internal email seen by The Electronic Intifada
“The Electronic Intifada is not a credible media organization and has a pro-Russian slant,” he claimed.
“Remember the confidentiality clauses you signed up to and your obligations to the UK government,” he added in an implicit warning to anyone who might consider speaking out.
The Palestinian Authority has always been a brutal collaborationist proxy force for Israel’s occupation. Its leader Mahmoud Abbas once described security collaboration with Israel as “sacred.”
In 2021 there were weeks of protests after Abbas’ goons beat to death Nizar Banat, one of his most prominent critics, whose influential Facebook videos often denounced collaboration.
One of the main US goals in the region is to preserve the Palestinian Authority.
To further that goal, they established the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The position was founded in 2005 and the first person to take the role was Keith Dayton, a US army general.
In 2007, Dayton was instrumental in a CIA-backed coup against the elected Palestinian Authority leadership. Hamas’ political wing had won the 2006 legislative elections, much to the anger of Israel and the US.
The coup failed in the Gaza Strip, but was successful in the West Bank, resulting in a bitter and sometimes violent split between Hamas and Abbas’ faction Fatah.
31 May 2023
Secret files reveal the names of British agents who influenced the Palestinian Authority.
A cache of leaked documents obtained by The Electronic Intifada reveals the extent of British intelligence penetration of Palestinian Authority forces, including “daily direction” from a UK military officer.
The documents detail how shadowy British contractor Adam Smith International (ASI) has influenced the Palestinian Authority for almost 15 years.
They expose several military intelligence trainers, naming names for the first time.
Two of the British agents, including a likely MI6 officer, worked closely with Israeli spies.
Some ASI personnel who worked with the Palestinian Authority are named in the files as also working with the contractor’s controversial “Free Syrian Police” project.
The program used British government funds to support al-Qaida-linked groups fighting the Syrian government – inadvertently, ASI claims.
ASI training to the Palestinian Authority is done in Ramallah, Jericho and Jordan, under the ultimate command of a US general, and in coordination with Israel.
The Electronic Intifada used the same document cache to reveal in February that the contractor had carried out a secret British government project to spy on Palestinian refugee camps, with the aim of monitoring “criticism of Western and Israeli foreign policy.”
No comment
You can read extracts from the files on this page and some of the full documents at the end of this article. The cache has been publicly available from a file sharing site since October last year. The Electronic Intifada has chosen to publish only files it has reviewed and determined to be in the public interest.
ASI declined to comment, directing us to the Foreign Office for queries “regarding any particular project.” A spokesperson for the UK’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
The Electronic Intifada understands that ASI has been ordering those named in the leaked documents not to speak to this publication.
“It is important that you do not respond to these requests for information, and that you let us know if you are contacted,” ASI director Daniel Pimlott wrote in one internal email seen by The Electronic Intifada
“The Electronic Intifada is not a credible media organization and has a pro-Russian slant,” he claimed.
“Remember the confidentiality clauses you signed up to and your obligations to the UK government,” he added in an implicit warning to anyone who might consider speaking out.
The Palestinian Authority has always been a brutal collaborationist proxy force for Israel’s occupation. Its leader Mahmoud Abbas once described security collaboration with Israel as “sacred.”
In 2021 there were weeks of protests after Abbas’ goons beat to death Nizar Banat, one of his most prominent critics, whose influential Facebook videos often denounced collaboration.
One of the main US goals in the region is to preserve the Palestinian Authority.
To further that goal, they established the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The position was founded in 2005 and the first person to take the role was Keith Dayton, a US army general.
In 2007, Dayton was instrumental in a CIA-backed coup against the elected Palestinian Authority leadership. Hamas’ political wing had won the 2006 legislative elections, much to the anger of Israel and the US.
The coup failed in the Gaza Strip, but was successful in the West Bank, resulting in a bitter and sometimes violent split between Hamas and Abbas’ faction Fatah.
LONG READ WITH DOCUMENTATION
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