GAZA (Sputnik) – Reports emerged over the weekend the unnamed employee of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) negotiations department, where Erekat also serves as secretary general, has confessed to spying on behalf of Israel.
"The spy who was arrested in Ramallah two weeks ago had no bearing on the affairs of policy and the negotiation process. He was an ordinary administrative officer," Erekat told RIA Novosti in a phone interview.
In addition to drug trafficking and murder, Palestinian laws carry the death penalty for cooperating with Israeli intelligence.
Although a presidential moratorium is in effect in the West Bank, death sentences are routinely imposed and carried out Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Last week, its military court convicted four brothers of espionage and sentenced them to be hanged.
Talks between Palestine, recognized by 137 out of 193 UN members as a state, and Israel have been stalled for two years.
