Palestinians to patrol West Bank

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 25 (UPI) -- The Israeli defense minister said Tuesday his country would help Palestinian officials host an international business seminar and enforce law in the West Bank.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a recruitment base near Tel Aviv he would allow 600 U.S.-trained officers to enter Jenin in the West Bank for law enforcement duty while the Israeli military would be charged with overall control of the area, Ynetnews.com said.

Barak said he recognized Israeli forces are charged ultimately with the safety of Israeli citizens but also saw it as their responsibility to "ease the situation of the Palestinians" in order to bring peace to the region.