Israel authorized on Sunday the “national guard” requested by the far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, as part of the concession to the Jewish far-right that Beniamin Netanyahu’s executive had to make in order to postpone the reform judiciary that has set the country on fire. The force is intended to reinforce operations during unrest with the Arab population. But Ben-Gvir did not gain direct command of the new security corps, because several political rivals worried it would turn into a sectarian “militia.”
The previous government began establishing an auxiliary police force to deal with internal violence following pro-Palestinian protests in mixed Jewish and Arab areas during the May 2021 Gaza war. That government fell before the new force was finalized.
Ben-Gvir, a hardline Jewish settler in the occupied West Bank with prior convictions for supporting terrorism and inciting Arabs, who make up 21% of Israel’s population, rose in politics partly because of the 2021 riots. .
After recanting some of his views, he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with an expanded law and order portfolio that he promised was to include a beefed-up “national guard” for use mainly in affected Arab communities. for crime and riots. “It will deal exclusively with this. The police do not deal exclusively with this. They are busy with a thousand and one things,” he told Army Radio.
The initiative was launched last week, when Netanyahu agreed to bring in Ben-Gvir’s “national guard” for cabinet approval after the national security minister backed a freeze on judicial reform that has sparked street protests across the country. the country for weeks.
But after voting in favor on Sunday, the cabinet announced in a statement that the question of who would lead the new force remained open. The government’s gesture could respond to criticism from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who considered that the cabinet’s decision had been made without first establishing the parameters of the “national guard”.
Israel’s police chief, Inspector General Yaacov Shabtai, has expressed doubt that the “national guard”, if not under the control of its own force, “could prove more costly and even harm the security of the citizenry”. , according to the Ynet news portal.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid last week dismissed the proposed “national guard” as “a private militia for a dangerous TikTok clown”, a reference to Ben-Gvir’s fickleness on social media.
“Why does the State of Israel, which has an army, police, military intelligence, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the National Security Council, the Prison Service, riot police, a SWAT team, need another ‘national guard’? ‘?” tweeted Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh.
Ben-Gvir said he wants control of the “national guard” because, in his opinion, police chiefs have neglected it. But he is willing to consider handing them over “if they are serious and really want it,” he told Army Radio. The new force will take months to get off the ground, he reported, with an initial intake of 1,850 members that could include seconded or reservist police officers and volunteers, from both Arab and Jewish sectors.
Israeli forces killed two Palestinian gunmen during a clash in the occupied West Bank on Monday, militant factions and medics said. The army announced it launched the raid to apprehend suspects in connection with a drive-by ambush last month.
There were no military casualties in the operation, which has taken place in Nablus, a city that has been the focus of intensified raids by Israel following a series of Palestinian street attacks on its cities last year.
One of the dead is a member of The Lion’s Den, a coalition of armed Palestinians active in Nablus and other parts of the northern West Bank. And he died while fighting the troops, the militia reported. The second Palestinian killed was claimed by the Palestinian faction Fatah.
The Israeli army said it arrested two people during the operation on suspicion of helping a Palestinian who carried out a March 25 shooting in the West Bank that wounded two soldiers. The car used in that attack was also seized, the military statement said.
About 90 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces in 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Fifteen Israelis and one Ukrainian have been killed in Palestinian attacks, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
