Ahead of elections: Shin Bet takes responsibility for security of Eisenkot, Golan and Winter
Private security firms will protect the party leaders under the agency’s supervision, with Eisenkot’s party saying its guards will receive direct instructions from Unit 730
The Shin Bet assumed responsibility on Sunday for the security of party leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Ofer Winter, their parties announced.
The change follows a High Court of Justice petition by Golan’s Democrats party demanding that the agency take responsibility for protecting its chairman.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party said a private security company would provide his protection and would be “directly instructed and operated by Unit 730,” the Shin Bet’s protective security unit.
Winter’s Amcha Israel party subsequently announced that he would receive similar protection.
The Democrats said the Shin Bet had informed Golan’s office that his security would come under the agency’s responsibility from Sunday morning, with the costs covered by the state.
In its petition, the party argued that protecting Golan fell within the Shin Bet’s statutory responsibility to safeguard the democratic order and its institutions. State representatives had presented a security framework and pledged to adjust it according to updated assessments.
The announcement marks a shift from the agency’s position a month earlier, when it said it did not plan to provide security for Eisenkot or Golan.
At the time, the Shin Bet said it would provide intelligence monitoring and oversight, including assessments of threats against all party leaders. Those assessments would determine the level and form of protection required for each.
The agency also said party leaders who wanted to hire private guards could obtain authorization for those guards to carry weapons, even without intelligence indicating a specific threat.
A ministerial committee chaired by Justice Minister Yariv Levin had authorized the Shin Bet to determine security arrangements for party leaders who lacked protection. That authority was to remain in effect until the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset.
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