The Israeli security and judiciary have expressed their opposition to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s plan to create a “national guard”.
Israeli Police Inspector General Yaakov Shabtai, Shin Bet security chief Ronen Bar and government legal adviser Gali Bakharav Mayara confirmed their opposition to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s plan. create a “national guard” under his ministry and in parallel with the police.
The Israeli channel Kan quoted Shabtai as saying that “the formation of the National Guard as a separate body from the police could seriously damage the operational capabilities of the internal security systems.”
And Shabtai continued in a letter he sent last week to Ben Gvir, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of (Shin Bet) and the National Security Council, stating that “(National Guard) what National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir trying to form and submit to his ministry is an unnecessary step with exorbitant costs that can go so far as to damage the personal safety of citizens.”
Shabtai said: “The damage that the guards will do to internal security systems will be due to the lack of clarity as to who will be responsible for this.”
Shabtai asked Ben-Gvir “not to make a decision on the formation (of the National Guard) without discussing the issue in the Political and Security Cabinet.” , but Ben Gvir decided to stop him. This is reported by the channel “Kan”.
Shabtai’s statements came ahead of the weekly Israeli government meeting today, Sunday, which is expected to discuss Ben-Gvir’s proposal for the formation of this guard, although this issue is not officially included in the agenda of the government meeting.
The Israeli government is also considering cutting the budgets of several ministries to fund the National Guard’s budget, which is expected to exceed one billion shekels.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from discussing the issue during his statements at the start of the cabinet meeting.
The newspaper Haaretz, citing sources in the security forces, reported that “the head of the Shin Bet security service, during closed negotiations, expressed his disagreement with the creation of the National Guard on the basis of the lack of organized and joint actions on this issue.”
According to the paper, Barr said, “It’s inconceivable that there should be two police forces in the same area.” The Shin Bet stated that its position “will be communicated to decision-makers on this issue.”
The Israeli government’s legal adviser, Baharav Maiara, expressed opposition to the proposal to create a National Guard led by Minister Ben Gvir.
According to Israeli TV Channel 12, Mbara stressed that “there is a legal barrier to the creation of guards, since the police can deal with security dilemmas without the need for an additional body.”
After that, Ben-Gvir’s office issued a statement saying that “there are senior police officials who do not want to create a national guard because of personal wars, and the minister gave the police three months to present a serious plan, but there is no practical progress, and if the police come up with a serious plan, we’ll look into it.” Positively, the police will do it, and if you don’t, the guard will operate under the Department of Homeland Security.”
Sources in the security apparatus said: “Ben Gvir wants to appoint the former commander of the Magilan Avinoam Amun detachment, who is a retired colonel in command of the National Guard.”
The Haaretz newspaper pointed out that “Amonah told the soldiers under his command before attacking the Gaza Strip (kill them while they are fleeing) against the Palestinians.”
The newspaper added that “When Amuna took over the leadership of Magellan, he asked not to appoint a female soldier as the unit’s press secretary, but as press secretary against the backdrop of his religious commitment.”
According to Ben-Gvir’s proposal, the “National Guard” would consist of five regular brigades, including 2,500 Border Guard troops in addition to 46 reserve companies, and that members of this guard would have the right to make arrests.
Ben Gvir calls for the creation of 1,800 jobs in a first phase worth NIS 1.4 billion.
Ben-Gvir’s proposal, which was released last Wednesday, said that “The National Guard will rely on regular forces and tactical brigades to counter specific cases that will work during normal periods in the fight against terrorism and deepen the capacity of management and public order for through the use of technological and intelligence assets, as well as focusing on the possibility of advancing to emergencies, in addition, reserve forces and volunteers, in order to double the forces in the conditions of the above scenarios.
The proposal, which requires government approval, added the creation of a committee headed by the Director General of the Ministry of National Security, which included delegates from other ministries as well as from the police and the army, and submit their recommendations within 60 days to an order for the formation of the National Guard.
Yesterday, former Israeli police inspector general Moshe Karradi warned that “Ben Gvir could use the National Guard to carry out a coup,” according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Carradi added: “Netanyahu needs to learn a bit of history and see what happened in countries where politicians have had special power. The distance between that and the fact that he, with this power, takes control of the prime minister’s office and makes a coup is very close, and so I suggest the prime minister to beware.” Because one day Ben Gvir will use this defense against the prime minister.
This force, which Itamar Ben-Gvir wants to create and which is under his command, and which consists of volunteers, security personnel and former soldiers, is considered more similar to the militias that operate specifically in Arab cities within the Green Line (in within Israel) or cities mixed with Arabs and Jews to crush and crush any popular uprising that might break out like the one signed in May 2021.
Source: Sputnik