Interpol ex-director: Israel’s national guard should be ‘professional’
'We need the help of the civilians, of the volunteers, but the national guard should be a professional group'
Asher Ben Artzi, former director of Interpol, spoke with i24NEWS on Israel’s push to establish a civilian national guard and how the force should be modeled.
He explained that Israel already incorporates volunteers within some of its security efforts, including in its police force.
“[What] we have now in the police is a group of volunteers. We need them in the police because the police… [are] exhausted,” Ben Artzi told i24NEWS.
However, the ex-director emphasized that Israel’s national guard should act as a professional force.
“We need the help of the civilians, of the volunteers, but the national guard should be a professional group,” Ben Artzi said.
He added that Israel should look to the United States National Guard as an example of a professional force to emulate.
“This is a real national guard, and according to our system, I believe that the new national guard should be under the Minister of Public Security and not the Minister of Defense,” Ben Artzi added.
He did not anticipate that the proposal to form Israel’s national guard would encounter any political opposition as the current situation in the country necessitates greater security efforts.
The new national guard would also be tasked with dealing with organized crime, riots, and drugs, according to Ben Artzi.