Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sends a harsh letter to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, slamming his plan to set up a national guard, Channel 12 reports.
In the letter, Gallant tells Ben Gvir that “there is no place in Israel for private militias.”
“The establishment of a new security body will cause real problems and be a distraction for the security establishment,” Gallant writes.
Ben Gvir won approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his long-sought “national guard” in March in exchange for supporting a temporary pause on judicial overhaul legislation.
The far-right Ben Gvir rejected Gallant’s criticism telling him to concentrate on problems in his own ministry.
Ben Gvir has long called for the creation of a so-called national guard under his direct control.
He has said that he seeks to establish a volunteer national guard that would be deployed in times of ethnic unrest, such as the May 2021 Jewish-Arab race riots that took place in some Israeli cities, against a background of war with the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.
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