Negotiating security issues in support of the peace process

Since 1999 ASI has managed the DFID-funded Negotiation Support Unit in the Palestinian Territories which advises the Palestinian political and technical leadership on all issues requiring negotiation with Israel as part of a peace agreement. The NSU's legal and policy advisers work with expert consultants to support the Palestinian leadership to develop negotiation positions on security issues including the security capabilities and institutions of a Palestinian state, legislative oversight, management of borders and airspace, military use of the electromagnetic spectrum, and mechanisms to monitor security aspects of any peace agreement. Palestinian counterparts included the National Security Council, the offices of the President and the Prime Minister. The NSU also supported the coordination of the security aspects of Israeli withdrawals from Gaza and three areas of the West Bank in 2005.