Israel OKs Ben-Gvir’s ‘national guard’ but hedges on his powers

JERUSALEM – Israel has authorised the 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 that 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.

Mr 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 due to the 2021 unrest.

Having recanted some of his views, he 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.

The initiative was jump-started on March 26, when Mr Netanyahu agreed to bring Mr 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 who 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.

That appeared to be in response to criticism by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that the Cabinet decision was made without first establishing the parameters of the national guard.

Israel’s police chief, Inspector-General Yaacov Shabtai, has expressed misgivings that the national guard, if not under his own force’s control, “could prove most costly and even harm the security of the citizenry”, according to the Ynet news site.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid on March 26 scorned the proposed national guard as “a private militia for a dangerous TikTok clown” – a reference to Mr Ben-Gvir’s volubility on social media.

“Why does the State of Israel – which has an army, police, military intelligence, the Shin Bet, Mossad, National Security Council, Prisons Service, riot police, a SWAT team – need another national guard?“ tweeted Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh.

Mr Ben-Gvir said that he wants control of the national guard because, in his view, it had been neglected by the police chiefs. But he told Army Radio that he was willing to consider letting them stay in charge “if they’re serious and really want it”.

The national guard will take months to get off the ground, he said, with an initial intake of 1,850 national guardsmen that could include seconded or reservist police officers and volunteers, from both Arab and Jewish sectors.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions are simmering after

months of violence in areas of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Tensions are also simmering with Syria, Iran and with Iran-backed armed group Hizbollah.

On Sunday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited the occupied West Bank and warned against Iranian interference.

“We will not allow the Iranians and Hizbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in the future,” he said during the visit to an army brigade in the West Bank.

During his visit, he was briefed on a probe into a Palestinian motorist whom the Israeli military said it shot on Saturday after

he rammed his car into a group of soldiers

in the West Bank.

“All our fronts are tense. The Iranians are extending their outreach to (the West Bank) and Gaza, and are attempting to entrench themselves in Syria and Lebanon,” said Mr Gallant.

Mr Netanyahu had announced Mr Gallant’s dismissal on March 26 after the latter spoke out against the pace of the government’s hotly contested judicial reforms. The announcement triggered foreign alarm and unprecedented street protests, and Mr Gallant never received a formal dismissal letter from Mr Netanyahu. REUTERS