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No one keeping watch?
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Ministers' security to be cut?

PM orders review of ministers' security protocols, with aim of determining whether each and every cabinet member really needs 24/7 protection detail

The government is considering changing the personal security protocols for ministers, and some of them may soon have to forego their security detail.

 

According to a Sunday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the government would be able to save millions of shekels by changing the ministers' security model.

 

The ministers' security amounts to about NIS 120 million (roughly $30 million) a year.

 

The State also provides security for former high-ranking officials, such as prime ministers, defense and foreign ministers, retired Shin Bet, Mossad and IDF chiefs and several judges.

 

Currently, every minister is automatically assigned a personal security details, as members of the cabinet are considered "high profile State symbols."

 

The proposed alternative suggests that "low profile" ministers will be accompanied by a security detail only while on the road or on trips abroad.

 

Still, security guards will still be posted in ministers' homes, as they are now.

 

"High profile" ministers, meaning those privy to sensitive security material, will continue to have round-the-clock protection, as will all ministers who are the targets of threats.

 

As part of the government's efficiently efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a special committee to review the ministers' security protocols and see whether any flexibility is possible.

 

Similar preparatory work is also being conducted by the Counter Terrorism Bureau and the Shin Bet.

One of the steps considered is determining the scope of the ministers' security needs following individual threat assessments by the Shin Bet.

 

Should such a move come to fruition, the number of State Service security guards – which are the Israeli version of the Secret Service – is expected to drop by about 50%.

 

The Shin Bet has so far voiced no objection to the move.

 

The Prime Minister's Office and the Shin Bet told Yedioth Ahronoth that no official decision has been made and that the committee must first be allowed to conclude its work.

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.26.12, 15:28
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