The government is expected to approve a NIS 500 million budget for the Shin Bet security service to combat organized crime in Arab society, according to a report by Milen Mualem on Channel 14. This follows a ministerial announcement last week that the Shin Bet would join the effort, marking a major policy shift.
The government is expected to formalize the approval of a NIS 500 million budget for the Shin Bet to combat organized crime in Arab society, according to a report by journalist Milen Mualem (Channel 14) on Tuesday. The report follows a series of announcements on Monday evening that delineated the funding and policy shift.
The thread of reports began at 20:43 Jerusalem on Monday, when The Zioneer first reported that Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and May Golan had secured a budget of more than NIS 500 million for the Shin Bet. Within the same minute, the government secretary confirmed the formal allocation of NIS 500 million, diverted from several ministries, and multiple news outlets (N12's Amit Segal, ynet) corroborated the details — including that the total security allocation, combining Shin Bet and police funds, reached NIS 567 million. The initial unconfirmed announcement by the ministers was thus followed within hours by on-record government confirmation and multi-source reporting.
As The Zioneer reported on Saturday, July 4, this marks the first time the Shin Bet has received dedicated funding for internal crime-fighting, a major policy shift for an agency historically focused on counterterrorism and espionage. The context of rising gang violence, extortion, and illegal weapons in Arab society has been described by ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as an existential threat — as The Zioneer reported on June 19 and June 28.
It remains unclear when the full cabinet will vote on the formal approval, or whether the reported NIS 500 million figure is exact or an approximate ceiling. No timeline for the Shin Bet's operational deployment alongside police has been provided.
12 developments
- StrongGovernment allocates first-ever funds to Shin Bet for combating Arab crime
- DevelopingLegal opinion blocks Shin Bet from tackling Arab-Israeli crime surge
- StrongFinance Ministry greenlights immediate 15b shekel transfer to defense budget
- DevelopingShin Bet says it has yet to decide structure of new Arab-sector department
Source and signal
- Internal intake