Ministers: No need for security details
Members of government say only ministers who have been threatened need to be protected; cost of security details estimated at $27m not including prime, defense and foreign ministers
"They should protect the ministers that have been threatened; not every one. There are ministers in the government whose appearance the public is not even familiar with. If there are warnings – they should be protected," one minister said.
The chief catalyst for the lessening of ministerial security details is security cabinet member and a minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Ami Ayalon. Since entering his position at the office, he has been provided with a security detail against his will.
Ayalon contacted Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin on the matter, but the latter told him: "You don't have a say in the matter and I'm acting according to government decisions."
Ayalon claims he has verified that almost half of the ministers in the government are supportive of ridding themselves of their security details. He has thus appealed to the prime minister to discuss the issue.
"In a conversation I had with the Shin Bet chief, it was made clear to me that the Shin Bet has no consideration in setting the level of security provided for these people," Ayalon wrote.
"The security is obligatory given their status as ministers without any relation to the threat level to them. In my view, these sweeping and broad guidelines and measures cost a heavy price and truly damage Israel's democratic image."
Ayalon added that the amount of protection provided to ministers should be decided based upon the level of threat that is established according to specific intelligence. In wake of the damage to Israel's democratic government, the heavy investment in resources and the withdrawal of large amounts of money from the State Treasury and the need to reexamine security policy, I appeal to you to look at the need to change the policy."
It is estimated that $1.2 million is spent annually for the security details of 22 government ministers who are not protected by the Shin Bet. The figure for the protection of all government employees is approximated at around $27 million a year.
This does not include the costs for protecting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minster Ehud Barak, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. They are protected by the Shin Bet unit for personal protection and the costs for their security detail are estimated to be several million of dollars a year.
Roni Shaked contributed to this report
