Israel’s cabinet on Sunday approved the establishment of a National Guard force that will be controlled by the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The force will handle “national emergency situations,” such as violent clashes between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The budgets of all government ministries were slashed by 1.5% to pay for the new force.
A committee consisting of all security agencies will develop guidelines for the National Guard’s operation within 90 days. The committee will also discuss the powers that the force will have, the statement said.
Last week, Ben-Gvir said that the force would be deployed “exclusively” in Arab communities, as the police were too busy with other matters. Israel’s police chief, Inspector-General Yaacov Shabtai, expressed concern about the National Guard to Ben-Gvir in a private letter, according to Israeli state-owned Kan TV news.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweeted that Ben-Gvir seeks to “turn his thug militia into a national guard that will bring terror and violence everywhere in the country.” He called the government’s move “ridiculous and despicable.”
Before joining politics, Ben-Gvir, who resides in the hard-line West Bank Jewish settlement in Hebron, was an ultranationalist activist convicted of providing support to illegal terrorist organizations, incitement to racism, and involvement in riots.
The establishment of the National Guard is part of a political deal with Netanyahu, who supported the establishment of the guard to keep Ben-Gvir’s faction in the government after it threatened to bolt over the prime minister’s temporary suspension of the planned overhaul of the country’s judiciary.
Palestinian groups, including both Fatah and Hamas, have denounced the Israeli cabinet’s approval of the national guard’s establishment. Fatah’s spokesperson in Gaza said, “The formation of the national guard will not frighten our people,” while Hamas described it as “a dangerous development.”