Netanyahu's ministers vote on budget cuts to fund Ben-Gvir's militia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Apr 2023 18:31
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The i24 news website has reported that the ministers of the Netanyhau’s cabinet have voted in favor of large-scale budget cuts to fund Ben-Gvir’s “national guard”.

Israeli settlers with assault rifles in the West Bank on 1 July 2021 [MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP]

The i24 news website has reported that the ministers of the Netanyhau’s cabinet have voted in favor of large-scale budget cuts (amounting to around $400 million per year) to fund Ben-Gvir’s “national guard”.

The initiative of the inception of Ben-Gvir’s militia has been largely controversial in settler society and bureaucracy. The Israeli police chief described the prospective militia as being vague and dismissed the “national guard” as being unnecessary. The chief had sent a letter to Ben-Gvir saying that it was “not at all clear what the purpose of the proposal is”.

Even many ministers in Netnayahu’s cabinet have reportedly opposed the initiative of the inception of a militia, but still voted in favor of the budget cuts.

The Israeli opposition has also been starkly critical of the initiative. Yair Lapid condemned the initiative as “ridiculous and despicable,” describing the prospective militia as a “private army of thugs.”

Last week, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed to postpone the judicial reform law until the Knesset's summer session in exchange for approving Ben-Gvir's initiative for a settler militia.

The decision to establish the militia was reportedly first proposed during the negotiations between Likud and the Jewish Power parties before they agreed to form the coalition which currently runs the government.

Ben-Gvir has contended that the militia would be employed to combat crime internally, especially in the Palestinian communities residing in the 84 territories of occupied Palestine.