The Palestinian Authority’s intelligence chief, Majed Faraj, held discreet meetings last week in New York with officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, despite the Trump administration’s recent decision to bar PA President Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of other Palestinian officials from entering the United States for the upcoming UN General Assembly.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Faraj used the meetings to reassure Washington that the PA remains committed to maintaining stability and combating terrorism in the West Bank, even as it hopes the visa bans will be lifted. The meetings underscored the PA’s attempts to maintain working relations with the Trump administration, despite strained ties marked by neglect and punitive measures over the past eight months.
Faraj’s solo entry into the U.S. and his discussions with CIA counterparts signal that the United States continues to engage with Palestinian security officials at a practical level, if not politically. This was not Faraj’s first such engagement; he previously met with CIA representatives in Langley, Virginia, in April.
The visa restrictions, which affect some 80 Palestinian officials, were issued as the U.S. sought to counter efforts by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state ahead of the General Assembly’s high-level week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed concerns about the PA’s legitimacy, citing internal problems such as stipends to prisoners, although Abbas has recently overhauled this policy.
Despite Abbas’s attempts to rebuild relations with Washington and reform certain policies, the Trump administration has largely sidelined Ramallah, with no direct contact since Trump’s inauguration.
