Advisory committee to discuss Shin Bet security for Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan

The Advisory Committee for the Protection of Public Figures will convene tomorrow, Sunday, in Jerusalem to examine the need for security for party leaders Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan. Decisions are expected to be made toward the evening at the end of a lengthy discussion held with the participation of security service representatives.

The meeting is scheduled for 15:30 and follows requests from the teams of Eisenkot and Golan, who passed on various warnings and findings to the security services. Associates of both politicians are demanding that special, continuous security be provided until the election date due to these new warnings.

The issue of security for the chairman of the Yashar party sparked public controversy just a week ago. The head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, decided then not to assign guards to Eisenkot after the Israel Security Agency determined it had no intelligence or concrete warnings of an intention to harm him. The Shin Bet clarified that Zini made the decision independently after a series of professional consultations that included the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg.

Zini's decision led to direct intervention by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That same evening, Netanyahu instructed the head of the Shin Bet to ensure that Eisenkot receives security at an appropriate level as needed. The security agency replied to the Prime Minister that the organization is doing its utmost and acting in accordance with the law. Now, the members of the advisory committee must examine the current findings submitted and decide whether the level of threat justifies a change in security arrangements for the two party leaders ahead of the elections.