Police minister says border cops to receive pay on par with combat soldiers
Gilad Erdan’s promise of higher wages comes as unit takes frontline role against Jerusalem, West Bank attacks
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Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Tuesday that Border Police officers performing their mandatory military service would receive a pay raise to bring their salaries in line with those of combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.
Speaking at a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony, Erdan said the Border Police is Israel’s foremost “spearhead” unit — a term used by the IDF for frontline troops — and officers should therefore receive a salary on par with top army combat units.
“Is there anything more spearhead today than the Border Police? There is no such thing,” he said.
Erdan said the funds for the raise would come from his ministry.
IDF combat soldiers currently earn NIS 1,600 ($451) per month, whereas Border Police officers in high-risk positions make roughly NIS 1,100 ($310).
Erdan’s call for border policemen to receive a raise comes as demand for service in the unit has surged in recent years, even surpassing that of storied infantry brigades like the paratroopers and Golani.
The increasing popularity of the unit among draftees coincided with a more than year-long wave of terror attacks beginning in the fall of 2015, many of which were in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the Border Police operates extensively.
The Border Police is also considered by many to have better service conditions than IDF combat units, which regularly move between bases and spend extensive time in training.
The Times of Israel Community.