The national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has announced his ministry is buying 10,000 rifles to arm “civilian security teams” across Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Times of Israel reports. The report said the rifles, 4,000 of which have already been bought, will go to Israeli towns close to the borders, but also to mixed Jewish-Arab cities inside Israel and West Bank settlements.
Ben-Gvir is a hardline Jewish settler who has past convictions for supporting terrorism and incitement against Arabs.
He was quoted as saying the weapons and equipment will be distributed to “hundreds of towns that have civilian security teams linked to the Israel police’s border police force”.
Civilian security teams provide security to small towns and communities but in the West Bank, some have attacked Palestinians.
“We will turn the world upside down so that towns are protected,” Ben Gvir was quoted as saying. “I have given instructions for massively arming the civilian security team.