In a Jonathan Pollard-like scandal, a senior aide to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief Saeb Erekat was arrested on suspicions of spying for Israel for the last two decades.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested the nameless official two weeks ago and has been holding him for questioning in a Palestinian intelligence facility ever since, according to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

The aide, who worked for the PLO Negotiating Department, is suspected of having passed Palestinian information to Israel during the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  According to Palestinian news agency, Maan, he confessed to “collaborating with the enemy” upon his capture.

Meanwhile, there are ongoing speculations as to the official’s actual position in Erekat’s office.

One report claims he was the director. However, in a published statement, Erekat firmly refuted this, saying that the office director is in fact a woman. Further, Erekat said the employee in question was not a senior official, but that he was in an administrative position.

Another representative, who requested his name not be published, told Israeli newspaper Haaretz  that the official in question had been under surveillance for a number of months. It was the evidence collected over recent weeks that led to his arrest and ongoing interrogation.