Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has vowed to set up a National Guard in his opening remarks at Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
Bennett announced that the National Security Council, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, would present a proposal for the new force by the end of the month.
The announcement came after a terrorist attack in which three people were killed and several were injured in the ultra-Orthodox city of Greece on Thursday.
After a large-scale 60-hour chase, a joint statement by the Israeli Defense Forces on Sunday, the Shin Bet security agency and Israeli police announced the arrests of Assad Youssef Assad al-Rifai, 19, and Subhi Emad Subhi Abu, 20, Shkeir, 20, in hiding. from the scene of the attack.
Israel is not the only country building a civil guard during a crisis. In 2016, while facing a deadly wave of terrorist attacks, then-French President Francois Hollande also ordered the creation of a National Guard.
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Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen sharply in recent months amid a series of terrorist attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have killed 19 people.
Subhi Emad Subhi Abu Shqeir, left, and As’ad Yousef As’ad al-Rifa’i, from a West Bank town near Jenin, the alleged Palestinian perpetrators of the May 5, 2022 terrorist attack in Greece, in which they were killed three Israelis and several seriously wounded. (courtesy)
The Israeli army has stepped up its activities in the West Bank in an attempt to quell growing violence. Subsequent attacks have sparked clashes that have killed at least 27 Palestinians since mid-March.
At the same time, tensions on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in recent weeks have led to violent clashes, growing pressure from Israel’s allies and threats from Hamas terrorists.
Commenting to the cabinet on Sunday, Bennett promised that Israel would continue to treat all religions in the capital with respect, while maintaining its sovereignty.
“All decisions related to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem will be made by the Israeli government, the sovereign of the city, without considering other people’s considerations,” he said.
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