HAZIM ATTALLAH APPOINTED PA POLICE CHIEF

S E C R E T JERUSALEM 000549 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2018 TAGS: KWBG PINS PINR PGOV IS SUBJECT: HAZIM ATTALLAH APPOINTED PA POLICE CHIEF Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Hazim Attallah (formerly PM Salam Fayyad's military secretary and a security advisor in the Office of the SIPDIS President) was appointed PA police chief effective March 24, replacing MG Faysal "Kamal" al-Shaykh. As part of the appointment, President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) promoted him to Major General. ¶2. (S) Attallah is a savvy internal operator who has managed to effectively navigate between PM Salam Fayyad and President Abbas and make himself necessary to both. In the ongoing debate within PA leadership circles about changes among security chiefs, Attallah was the once choice that both Abbas and Fayyad could agree on. He is nonetheless an unusual choice for police chief--he spent most of his security time in the Preventive Security Organization (PSO) and his recent assignments have been advisory/political, not management. The PA police headquarters is full of senior figures who will, at least initially, view Attallah as a political interloper. ¶3. (S) Attallah told ConGen Pol Specialist that he would like to retain responsibility for the non-police matters he previously handled, including critical negotiations with the Israeli MoD and liaison with USG counterparts on security assistance and Roadmap issues. He said he will discuss this with PM Fayyad. It is unclear who would pick up these portfolios if Attallah does not continue to hold them. His Israeli ties could help improve PA-GOI police coordination, but it would be difficult for Attallah to manage the police force while maintaining his other portfolios. Bio Note -------------- ¶4. (C) MG Hazim Attallah (PA ID 410466148) was born in 1959 in Bayt Surik (near Jerusalem),but was raised abroad (mostly in Jordan and Lebanon). Attallah was appointed a security advisor to President Abbas in 2005 and military secretary to PM Salam Fayyad in September 2007. During the second Intifadah he served as the PSO's head of international relations, and served as PSO chief for Jenin from 1998-99. He began his security career as a police captain in 1994, moving with Palestinian security forces to the West Bank from Jordan. He attended Bulgaria's military academy from 1980 to 1984, earning a BS in military science, and also completed courses at Prince Nayif University for Security Sciences in Riyadh. He is the son of Husni Muhammad Attallah ("Abu Za'im"),a former head of Fatah military intelligence and senior PLO official until a high-profile break with ARAFAT in 1986 led to his expulsion from the PLO. He is not a Fatah member. Attallah is married with two sons and is a fluent English speaker. WALLES