Alwaght- Hardline Israeli cabinet has issued an authorization for foundation of National Guard at the suggestion of the National Security Minister Itmar Ben-Gvir.
The prime minister’s office stated that the exact powers of the National Guard will be discussed by a committee consisting of all Israeli security agencies, and within 90 days, its structure and duties will be determined.
However, criticism against the National Guard plan is huge. Kobi Shabtai, the Israeli police chief, in a letter to Ben-Gvir cast doubt on the viability of the new security force. He added that the establishment of the National Guard will cause conflict of duties, power struggle, lack of responsibility, and a chain of parallel military commanders. National Guard plan is yet to be finalized and its establishment requires the approval of the Knesset. Although the Knesset is under the control of the far-right majority, opposition voices are also loud against the idea. Ayman Awda, an Arab Knesset member, in a Twitter post said: “When Israel has army, police, military intelligence, Shin Bet, Mossad, National Security Council, Prison Service, and anti-riot police, what is the need for a National Guard?”
Netanyahu’s ransom to the Haredis
The hardliner Ben-Gvir beside other radical Haredi politicians like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has pursued eerie plans including overhaul of the judicial system over the past three years. However, the judicial reform plan has faced many protests and opposition, and during the past three months, demonstrations have continued until last week when they led to a nationwide strike, and finally Netanyahu was forced to walk back and said that he suspended the plan. However, the protesters still do not trust the suspension and continue their protests and demand its complete cancellation. The initial protests started at the beginning of January after Netanyahu’s coalition cabinet unveiled its judicial reform package. Netanyahu announced the goal of his proposed changes to create a balance between the parliament and the judiciary. Actually, the proposed reforms will greatly reduce the powers of the Supreme Court and the right of this judicial body to supervise the parliament and will give politicians more powers to interfere in the appointment of judges, something the opposition consider to be the final nail in the coffin of judiciary’s independence.
The reason behind popular show of sensitivity to the judicial overhaul is the judiciary’s key role in the decisions about people’s life. NPR news reports that Israel has no written constitution and has not written a legal charter that protects basic civil rights and freedoms. In fact, the ruling structure in the occupied regions operates based on a set of procedural rules of the Supreme Court and lower courts. In other words, the courts decide on many controversial and important issues, from settlement operations to civil liberties and the rights of Palestinian citizens, as well as issues arising from the occupation of Palestinian lands. If the power of the judiciary is weakened, in practice the final and decisive power will fall in the hands of the politicians and the PM, and in this situation, the members of the cabinet and parliamentarians will be able to approve and implement their desired party laws by removing the supervision of the Supreme Court. For instance, not long ago, a far-right member of the Knesset demanded passing a law to shut down power plants on Saturday for religious reasons. Removing the supervision of the Supreme Court on the performance of politicians and parliament means nothing but the approval of strange laws desired by extremist groups, and at least half of the residents of the occupied Palestinian territories do not want to be captured by the restrictions of radical religious groups.
On the other hand, the suspension of the reforms has made the far-right politicians in the cabinet unhappy, and if Netanyahu fails to continue to have their support for his government, the coalition will lose quorum needed to hold parliamentary majority and the result will be the collapse of the cabinet. Many have said that after announcing the suspension of the judicial changes, Netanyahu granted another privilege to far-right in the form of National Guard in order to continue to have them on board his government. In other words, Netanyahu’s agreement with National Guard foundation is his ransom to the radical groups.
Ben-Gvir militants
Ben-Gvir is a radical settler in the West Bank who in the past had the record of conviction for support to terrorism and incitement of racist actions. As a teenager, he was disqualified for military service due to his extremist beliefs and later faced several criminal charges. He was convicted for supporting a terrorist organization; an organization whose leaders sought to deprive Palestinians living in the Israeli regime of citizenship and pushed for segregation of the Palestinians. Even though he now denies his affiliation with the Israeli terrorist organizations, his statements, including calls for restrictions on Palestinian prisoners and the storming of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, disclose him being an extremist figure.
Given Ben-Gvir’s radical character, many believe that the establishment of National Guard will actually be the establishment of a new militia that will be under the control of this radical politician. Also, opposition figures have accused him of seeking to create a new force to suppress nationwide protests against Netanyahu.
National Guard makeup
According to to Middle East News, according to Ben-Gvir’s proposal, the National Guard will include five brigades with 2,500 border guards and 46 reserve units, with its members having rights for arbitrary arrests. It seems that the National Guard is set to recruit from extremely radical Jewish groups. In an interview with Israeli Channel 13, the controversial minister invited the members of the La Familia terrorist group to join the National Guard. According to the Palestinian Information Center, the extremist La Familia group is a supporter of Netanyahu with a black record and recently participated in suppressing protesters against the embattled PM. The members of this extremist group chant racist, extremist, and immoral slogans in football stadiums in some important football league matches and have very harsh and racist approaches to the Palestinians.
Also, the Jerusalem Post has reported that the new force’s body will join a congested network of security and military agencies and institutions from the army to the Shin Bet to the Border Guard and adds another security institution to tens of other parallel institutions. National Guard costs about 1 billion shekel, equal to around $500 million, to form, which requires 1.5 percent cut in budgets of ministries.
