The Middle East Program Hosts Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton

The Middle East Program at CSIS recently hosted Lt. General Keith Dayton, United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, for an off the record discussion, with a small group of experts from the Washington policymaking community. The discussion focused on a range of issues including the U.S. training mission for Palestinian security forces, Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, and the improving security situation in the West Bank. The primary mission of the U.S. Security Coordinator is the training of a professional West Bank Palestinian security force, and the program has so far trained 1,600 troops, including dozens of officers. Lt. Gen. Dayton has headed the training mission since December 2005, and works closely with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and oversees a team of 16 staff based permanently in the region.