Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs announced Monday evening the formal allocation of NIS 500 million to the Shin Bet security service for combating organized crime in Arab society, led by Ministers May Golan and Itamar Ben Gvir. The funding is diverted from several government ministries.
Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs formally announced Monday evening the allocation of NIS 500 million from several government ministry budgets to the Shin Bet for combating organized crime in Arab society. The decision was led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Minister for Social Equality May Golan.
As The Zioneer first reported at 20:43 Jerusalem, the government officially confirmed the Shin Bet's entry into the fight against Arab organized crime—a policy shift that had been building through the evening. By 20:43, multiple Israeli outlets had reported the allocation, with N12's Amit Segal stating the Shin Bet would receive NIS 500 million for the effort, and ynet reporting Ben Gvir's formal announcement. The thread shows that earlier reports mentioned the funding would be diverted from the previous government's Plan 550, with total security funding reaching NIS 567 million (including police). The Zioneer also reported separately at 21:07 Jerusalem that the funding formalizes the first-ever dedicated Shin Bet budget for this domain.
This development follows the shelving of Police Commissioner Danny Levy's flagship anti-crime unit for the Arab sector, which was stymied by budget constraints and opposition from the Prime Minister's Office director-general, as The Zioneer reported on Sun Jun 28, 20:59 Jerusalem. The new Shin Bet fund supersedes that police initiative.
The specific ministries from which the budget is diverted were not detailed in the announcement. It also remains unclear when the Shin Bet's new operational department will be fully structured—the agency had stated earlier that the department's structure has not yet been finalized and implementation will take time.
11 developments
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Source and signal
- Internal intake