When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his plan to reorganize the State Department, he said the department was plagued by ineffective and inefficient diplomacy and soaring costs, and that he intended to target programs that do not serve core American national interests.
According to reports, one of the programs that Rubio is considering shuttering is the Office of the Security Coordinator, which oversees security coordination between the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
Although there are undoubtedly State Department programs that fit Rubio’s description, the Office of the Security Coordinator is not one of them. With Rubio testifying this week before budget hearings in the House and the Senate, it is important to point out that the office is one of the most effective, efficient and critical programs that exists within the U.S. government.
The Office of the Security Coordinator is the biggest success story of U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of the past two decades. Its role is more important now than ever.
Israel is mired in Gaza with a major new ground offensive and also contending with its overstretched military ranks. It is fending off ballistic missile attacks from the Houthis, such as the one that exploded close to Ben Gurion Airport, and is wary of new threats that may emerge in Syria as the new government struggles to consolidate its control. Most pressingly, Israel expects this year to be decisive in determining how Iran’s nuclear program is tackled.
There has never been a worse time to risk an eruption in the West Bank, as we would do by shuttering the Office of the Security Coordinator.
If any program should be taken off the administration’s chopping block, the Office of the Security Coordinator should be first in line.
The office was created in 2005 in the wake of the second intifada as a way of transforming the Palestinian Authority Security Forces from a disparate group of militias that had spent the first half of the decade shooting at Israeli soldiers into a professional counterterrorism force and gendarmerie that would coordinate with Israel on security.
Led by a succession of three-star generals and admirals, the Office of the Security Coordinator was more successful than anyone could have foreseen, training the Palestinian security forces in professional tactics and procedures and facilitating nearly two decades of daily security coordination between the IDF and the Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
This coordination on counterterrorism and intelligence sharing is one of the most effective elements in containing Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the West Bank and preventing terrorism against Israelis.
Security coordination between the two sides has been resistant to the deterioration of political relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and has survived pressures arising from IDF military operations in Gaza, flare-ups in the West Bank and the cataclysm of the Oct. 7 attacks. Without the ongoing Office of the Security Coordinator role in keeping things on track, none of this would have been assured.
The Palestinian Authority Security Forces also play an important role in combating Iran’s foothold in the West Bank by interdicting weapons from Iranian-backed groups and breaking up Iranian financing rings. Specialized tactical advice and police training from the Office of the Security Coordinator spurs Palestinian Authority Security Forces counterterrorism campaigns, including an operation launched in December against Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Jenin refugee camp that continued despite six Palestinian Authority Security Forces fatalities.
Perhaps the Palestinian Authority Security Force's most immediate function in protecting Israeli lives is safely returning hundreds of Israelis each year who accidentally wander into Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank. This practice is so routine and taken for granted that it is almost never reported on.
While the Palestinian Authority has its own clear interests in performing all of these functions, without them, Israel’s security burden would be much higher. There is no guarantee that any of them will continue if the Office of the Security Coordinator is eliminated.
The West Bank is not the only place where the Office of the Security Coordinator plays a central role. One of the thorniest obstacles in transitioning to a post-Hamas future in Gaza is figuring out who will provide security in the Strip in order to avoid a permanent IDF occupation.
The Office of the Security Coordinator has been developing plans to train a Palestinian security force that would perform the same functions as the Palestinian Authority Security Forces in the West Bank. It has the experience and proven track record of successfully training and equipping such a force while coordinating with Israel and taking its security concerns into account.
If the Trump administration, under Steve Witkoff’s direction, can successfully broker a lasting hostage and cease-fire deal, collapsing the Office of the Security Coordinator’s work on Gaza will undermine the durability of any security arrangements that sideline Hamas by creating a Palestinian alternative.
Aside from being a critical tool of U.S. diplomacy in the region, the Office of the Security Coordinator is also a model for sustainable multilateral American engagement. The U.S. leads the mission, and 11 other NATO countries participate, providing their own personnel, funding and expertise.
It is an example of successful burden sharing, one that costs the U.S. less than $40 million annually and that acts as a force multiplier by drawing in other partners. It is precisely the type of vision that President Trump has articulated for the U.S. role in the world and in relation to American allies.
Michael Koplow is Israel Policy Forum’s chief policy officer
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