Police launch new West Bank unit of settler volunteers with focus on ‘combat mindset’

Police are launching a new West Bank unit composed of Jewish volunteers from the settlements in the territory, law enforcement announces.

The civilian force’s main goal is to provide an “immediate response to terror attacks” until the police and IDF troops arrive, says law enforcement in a statement.

The unit was inaugurated in a Wednesday night ceremony at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, during which National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir addressed new recruits.

He says that 105 volunteers have so far been recruited into the West Bank unit, which so far has squads in the settlements of Efrat, Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba and Hebron.

“These squads represent a departure from the ‘defensive mindset’ and towards a combative, militant and offensive mindset,” says the far-right minister, who himself resides in Kiryat Arba.

Ben Gvir attended the event alongside police brass including Deputy Police Commissioner Avshalom Peled and West Bank District commander Moshe Pinchi.

Police chief Danny Levy was not present at the event.

Law enforcement says the volunteers were certified with “special policing authorities” after being trained in recent weeks in counterterrorism drills. They were given advanced combat equipment including weapons, tactical uniforms, and protective gear.

The unit’s first branch was established in the Maale Adumim settlement just east of Jerusalem, the city’s mayor Guy Yifrach said in late May.

Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, frequently touts his efforts to recruit civilians into law enforcement through volunteer security squads. He has undertaken similar initiatives within the Green Line, but these quasi-police forces have come under scrutiny for operating without proper oversight and detaining people without due cause.

Last month, the journalists’ union appealed to Tel Aviv police after a civilian squad led by far-right rapper Yoav Eliasi detained several reporters at the site of an Iranian ballistic missile impact without clear reason.

Responding to the appeal, Tel Aviv District Police decided its security squads would not interact with reporters, the union said at the time.