(JNS) The United States is applying pressure on the Palestinian Authority to increase security coordination with Israel, as part of a larger effort to reduce violence in Judea and Samaria, a former Israeli defense official tells JNS.

A senior P.A. delegation arrived in Washington in early October, headed by Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee. The delegation met with senior American officials including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and focused on finding new ways to ease economic conditions for Palestinian civilians, reopening the U.S. consulate in east Jerusalem and reopening the PLO’s office in Washington, according to Col. (res.) David Hacham, a senior research associate at the MirYam Institute and a former advisor on Arab affairs to seven Israeli defense ministers.