Israeli government approves decision to form a ‘national guard’
- Israel held off on giving National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir direct command after opponents voiced concern the guard would become a sectarian ‘militia’
- Having voted in favour on Sunday, the cabinet said in a statement that the question of whom the national guard would be subordinate to remained open
Israel authorised on Sunday a national guard sought by far-right security chief Itamar Ben-Gvir to focus on Arab unrest, but held off on giving him direct command after political rivals voiced concern the force could become a sectarian “militia”.
The previous government began setting up an auxiliary police force to tackle internal violence following pro-Palestinian protests in mixed Jewish-Arab areas during the Gaza war of May 2021. That government fell before the new force was finalised.
Ben-Gvir, a hardline Jewish settler in the occupied West Bank with past convictions for support for terrorism and incitement against Arabs – who make up 21 per cent of Israel’s population – rose in politics partly owing to the 2021 unrest.
Having recanted some of his views, Ben-Gvir joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with an expanded law-and-order portfolio that he pledged would include a beefed-up national guard for use mainly in crime- and rioting-hit Arab communities.
“It will deal with this exclusively. The police does not deal exclusively with this. It’s busy with a thousand and one things,” he told Army Radio, operated by the Israel Defence Forces.
The initiative was jump-started last week, when Netanyahu agreed to bring Ben-Gvir’s national guard for cabinet approval after the security minister backed his pause of a judicial overhaul proposal that had triggered nationwide street protests.
But having voted in favour on Sunday, the cabinet said in a statement that the question of whom the national guard would be subordinate to remained open. It appointed a multi-agency panel to submit recommendations on this and other issues in 90 days.