TEL AVIV — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is pressing ahead with his controversial plans to establish a National Guard corps under his command, despite opposition from some in the Israeli security establishment. Ben-Gvir wants to create the guard in order to quell any future violence against Jews from Israel's Arab community and establish a security force that he — and not his critics — would control. 

A campaign promise

Ben-Gvir's desire to create a National Guard has its roots in the communal violence that occurred between Jews and Arabs in Israel in 2021. Operation Guardian of the Walls in May of that year is still fresh in the nation’s collective memory. At the time — toward the end of Netanyahu’s last government — Israel’s conflict with Hamas led to unrest among the Israeli Arab population living in mixed cities. There were bitter clashes with the security forces but also attacks against Israeli civilians, some of them deadly. Synagogues were attacked in Lod, and a restaurant was burned down in Acre.

This “national trauma” was a watershed moment for Israel, and led many Israelis to believe that they need a new approach to keeping civilians safe.