Less extravagant protection for ministers – the right decision

Less extravagant protection for ministers – the right decision

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The decision to reduce the protection provided to the Israeli ministers is a right one and was made very late after many millions of shekels were spent for nothing.

The aggressive way in which all the ministers have been protected has been with zero efficiency but cost a lot of money. Recently , I described here the way convoys of ministers disrupt the traffic in big cities endangering in many cases drivers that have to make drastic maneuvers to let the convoy pass.

So at last , the intelligent decision was made . The committee of ministers, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt the National Security Council’s recommendation to drastically reduce the protection provided for government ministers.

Only the Prime Minister faces a real, concrete threat, and needs constant protection, according to the recommendations. Other ministers will be protected at home, and on trips abroad.

According to the prime minister’s office the dangers posed to government ministers will be reassessed every few months in order to determine appropriate security procedures. “There will be protection for every minister, but the level of security will be different for each one,” read the statement. “The goal of this decision is to focus security efforts and to save tens of millions of shekels per year.”

Currently each government minister receives protection in his or her home, as well as round the clock bodyguards. This requires between 12 and 15 bodyguards per minister. The last government had 30 ministers, which required around 170 bodyguards, which were hired from a private security firm.

According to the new arrangement, bodyguards from private firms will no longer be hired, and a new government office to protect ministers will be created. It should include only a few dozen bodyguards. These bodyguards will be attached to various ministers according to intelligence information on threats they face. A minister that does not face significant threat will only be protected in his or her home.

The general security service  will continue to protect the prime minister, as well as the defense and foreign ministers, as well as any minister that travels abroad.