A cable just released by WikiLeaks suggests close cooperation between Israel and forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas when rival Hamas militants overran the Gaza Strip three years ago.
The disclosure could embarrass Abbas and his Fatah movement, which Hamas has always accused of working with the Israelis. The June 2007 cable quotes Israeli internal security chief Yuval Diskin as saying Israel had "established a very good working relationship" with Abbas' security forces. As Hamas was overrunning Gaza, he said some desperate Fatah leaders even wanted Israel to attack Hamas.
Diskin said that in the West Bank, Palestinian security was sharing "almost all (its) intelligence" with Israel. Since the Gaza takeover, Abbas has governed in the West Bank.