Ben-Gvir’s Militia: How Does the Formation of the Israeli National Guard Affect Palestinian Citizens?

Finally, the dream of the Israeli National Security Minister, the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, was realized by forming the so-called “National Guard,” a security force that operates without any supervision or control and is made up of reserve members of the Border Guard and civilian volunteers.

The Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is suffering from political and popular crises, agreed to establish the security forces so that the Religious Zionist Party would not be excluded from the ruling coalition and thus see the government collapse.

The project of the Minister of Internal Security had obtained the approval of the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is suffering from political and popular crises, to establish it in exchange for the approval of his party (Religious Zionism) to postpone voting on amendments to the judicial overhaul in the Knesset.

A human rights group has termed the Israeli National Guard as an armed militia designed for fighting Palestinians, calling for its abolition.

The idea of forming this national guard began in 2022, and the purpose of its proposal was to take charge of confronting the Palestinians and suppressing their protests and for the Israeli police to devote themselves to their routine tasks.

However, its re-formation and handing over of its leadership to Ben-Gvir, who threatened Netanyahu’s opponents, raised speculation that its aim was to suppress Israeli demonstrators as well.

According to Hebrew media reports, several ministers in the cabinet expressed opposition to the 1.5 percent cut in the budgets of all ministries, which would hand Ben-Gvir’s ministry around NIS 1 billion ($278 million).

For the past 13 weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated against the judicial overhaul plan supported by the Netanyahu government, which includes amendments that limit the powers of the Supreme Court and give the right-wing government the power to appoint judges.

 

Private Militia

On April 2, 2023, the Israeli government approved a decision to form and finance a national guard, according to what officials announced, in a move that its opponents warn will lead to an apparatus that will serve as a private militia for the National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

A statement from the right-wing Ben-Gvir office said that the apparatus that will be affiliated with his ministry will be tasked with dealing with emergency scenarios, national crimes, and terrorism and tasked with strengthening “Israeli sovereignty.”

The statement quoted Ben-Gvir as saying that the apparatus will consist of 1,800 elements whose interest is to restore personal security to the Israelis, noting that a committee will give more details about the objectives and powers of the apparatus within two months.

In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that a committee composed of members of Israeli security agencies will propose whether the police commissioner or another body will take over the management of this apparatus.

One of the candidates to head the National Guard, according to Haaretz, is recently retired IDF Col. Avinoam Emunah, who was filmed last year telling soldiers ahead of an operation near the Gaza Strip: “Most of the time you’ll see them fleeing, kill them while they’re fleeing.”

The Walla news website reported that during the cabinet discussions, Netanyahu mentioned another option—Gal Hirsch, a former IDF brigadier general. The report said the name of former police deputy commissioner Uri Bar-Lev also came up.

It is reported that the former Israeli government headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid had announced in June 2022 the start of forming the National Guard to work as part of the Border Guard and an arm of the Israeli police.

In contrast, the current apparatus, under the Netanyahu government, will operate separately from the Israeli police and under a separate command that reports directly to the National Security Minister.

In both cases, the motives that stopped the ministers from establishing this apparatus, whether in the Bennett/Lapid government or the current Netanyahu government, were the events and confrontations that took place in the occupied Palestinian cities and towns, specifically, in mixed cities such as Haifa, Jaffa (Yafa), Lod, Ramla, and Acre (Akka), in May 2021.

 

Israeli Fears

After the Israelis were afraid of Netanyahu’s plan to weaken the judiciary, and they thought that they had achieved victory in the battle against him—they have a date with a new crisis titled the National Guard.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on March 27, 2023, that “Israel” is facing a new crisis, which is the formation of a national guard under the direct command of Ben-Gvir, and considers it a serious threat to Israeli democracy, no less than judicial reform.

“The opponents feared that the National Guard would be an armed militia, and instead of assuming security missions in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem only, it could be used against them as well,” it said.

“The opponents fear that these militias will be the beginning of restricting freedoms, and granting settlers and the Zionist religious movement great powers, allowing them to direct weapons against the left and the Israeli opposition, alongside the Palestinians in the West Bank or the Palestinians of 1948,” it confirmed.

On March 28, 2023, Haaretz newspaper said that Netanyahu, who had previously warned of a civil war, now appears as an instigator after his support for the formation of this private militia.

The newspaper pointed out that the National Guard will target opponents, not just the Palestinians, and Netanyahu’s move indicates that he is preparing for civil war.

Israeli human rights organization, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says the move will create a private, armed militia that would be directly under Ben-Gvir’s control.

On his part, the leader of the Israeli opposition, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, said in a tweet, “The TikTok clown Ben-Gvir wants to turn his militia into a national guard that sows terror and violence throughout the country.”

He also condemned the Netanyahu government’s decision to cut the budgets of the rest of the ministries to finance Ben-Gvir’s militia, describing the matter as an extremist fantasy for people with delusions.

In turn, the former Minister of Public Security, Omer Bar-Lev, criticized the Israeli measure in a tweet, saying: “The idea that a private militia will be formed by a minister who lacks understanding, and is convicted of supporting a terrorist group and inciting racism, is shocking.”

Whereas, Moshe Karadi, former Israeli police officer, considered in statements to the Israeli newspaper Calcalist that the decision gives Ben-Gvir a private militia and military battalions subject to him, and this is equivalent to the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, or Hezbollah in Lebanon, as he put it.

He pointed out that this matter is extremely dangerous because it is not permissible to subjugate the law enforcement apparatus to a political or partisan entity, so that it does not turn into a political police and undermine the confidence of citizens in it.

Senior Israeli police officers, and even their commander, Kobi Shabtai, also announced their strong opposition to the formation of the new National Guard, which would be subordinate to Ben-Gvir, and their annoyance with his shadow militia, according to what Haaretz newspaper reported on March 29, 2023.

Also, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak described the appointment of Ben-Gvir in charge of the National Guard as a crazy step by Netanyahu, according to what he said in an interview with CNN on March 27, 2023.

Israeli officials also warned that activists of the racist right-wing group La Familia would become the National Guard with weapons and powers.

 

New Escalation

In the same context, many Palestinian parties have widely criticized the National Guard, asserting that they are fascist brigades established to suppress Palestinians inside, especially in the historic Palestinian cities from Jaffa to Acre, and that they will also operate in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority described the proposed force as a militia that raises many concerns about its role against the Palestinians, according to what was reported by The Jerusalem Post on March 29, 2023.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry confirmed that giving these criminals a legal cover so that they will not be prosecuted is a public legitimization of killing and committing more massacres and acts of bullying against the Palestinians and their property.

The ministry accused Netanyahu of unleashing Ben-Gvir against the Palestinians, and warned that this step would ignite the conflict and thus sabotage any effort to stop the escalation and achieve calm.

In turn, the Palestinian writer Omar Assaf said in a statement to Al-Estiklal that “the decision to grant the fascist Ben-Gvir a private militia will undoubtedly serve to reinforce his clear anti-Palestinian agenda.”

“The National Guard project, like other projects designed to get Israel out of its crises, can only be explained by linking it to the fact that Israel built itself as a colonial system,” he added.

“Unleashing these settlers is a continuation of the extremist policy pursued by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, and it is a new escalation that contradicts all international covenants of any occupying entity against the indigenous population of the country,” Mr. Assaf continued.

Ben-Gvir is known for his racism and incitement against Palestinians and has repeatedly called for “Israel” to formally annex illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

On her part, Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality warned of the repercussions of this deal on Arab citizens.

Suleiman said in a statement: “The dictator Netanyahu rewards a racist minister who was previously convicted of supporting terrorism and gives him wide powers, and now he establishes for him armed and funded gangs that obey his orders directly.”

“This government of fascists wants to rely on extremist Zionist settler groups, such as La Familia [a fan association affiliated with Beitar Jerusalem and famous for its anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stances], to oppress Arab citizens, leftists, and anyone who raises his head and dares to make an anti-fascist voice,” she added.

“The deal concluded between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir is more dangerous than the legislation that was announced to be frozen, and it is a very dangerous case of blackmail, and it was easy for Netanyahu to respond to it, because the first to be affected by it are the Arab citizens,” Ms. Touma-Suleiman continued.