A security establishment love affair
Need for IDF to control disturbances within Green Line cause for concern
One of the disengagement’s wonders: Ever since thousands of police officers have headed south, a drop in crime has been reported throughout the rest of the country.
Central District Police Chief Major General Benny Kaniak says the drop in crime in his district has reached the 25 percent mark. In fact, the situation is so good that he too plans to head on south next Wednesday, along with 1,500 of his officers.
Anti-pullout rally
By Efrat Weiss
Most police, Border Guard forces ordered to leave Ofakim after only several hundred anti-pullout activists remain in southern town following march, despite Yesha Council declarations that struggle is not yet over
Someone may suspect the criminals have all worn orange and joined the anti-pullout campaign, or, alternately, that the real criminals are the cops themselves and without them around we are much safer.
These suspicions are false, of course. But the outcry that police officers and IDF troops are forced to deal with a war that is none of their concern is also falsified.
Until now, the cat and mouse game with the settlers has offered the men and women in uniform considerable amusement. The commanders view it as an intellectual challenge, while the soldiers and officers on the ground feel the same camaraderie they experience during their reserve duty.
Israel Police Chief Moshe Karadi says he is surprised by the police officers’ high morale. For the meantime, they are having fun.
There is also a bonus: There was never such harmony, cooperation and love between the IDF and the police. IDF Southern Command Chief Major General Dan Harel boards a police helicopter to survey the area. In the past such a flight would have to go through several levels of approval and authorization.
But now all Harel has to do is get on the helicopter and fly away.
'Connection to police a one-time thing'
The military apparatus the IDF is utilizing in its war on terror, such as the drone and the zeppelin, are at the police’s disposal, as are, of course, thousands of soldiers. Joint deliberations - one viewpoint.
The officers on both sides report great bliss. One even compares the cooperation between the IDF and the police to the cooperation that was obtained between the IDF and the Shin Bet, which was instrumental in the war on terror.
As a citizen, I am not as pleased. Israeli democracy finds the necessary checks and balances to withstand disagreements, not embraces, between the different branches.
There is something disconcerting, worrying and uncomfortable about the fact that the police needs the army to control disturbances that take place inside the Green Line.
Despite the fact that IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz is one of those who have helped establish the IDF-Israel Police romance, he too realizes it is problematic.
“Remember that the connection to the police is a one-time thing,” he told his officers.
