The National Security Ministry held a ceremony on Sunday, attended by the outgoing minister Omer Bar-Lev and the incoming minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Ben-Gvir was greeted by a police honor guard and the police band even played tunes composed by the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
The outgoing minister, Omer Bar-Lev, hinted to the heads of the law enforcement branches that they are to stand up against the possible changes that the new minister may lead. "The citizens of Israel look to you, they know that their security is in good hands. You, the heads of the organizations and the subordinates of all ranks, must have a strong backbone, you have to be a strong rock against the wind, to stand up for your professional opinions without fear, that's your professional obligation and your obligation to the citizens of Israel. Remember, there is no replacement for a road when navigating by compass, and by the values that the state of Israel follows."
Bar-Lev also attacked Israeli rights behavior. "Only once I reached the position of Public Security minister did have the 'privilege', in quotations, to be protected 24/7 by the ISA's order. And why? Not because of Israel's enemies who attempted to kill me countless numbers of times in the past, not because of the murderers from the many Palestinian terror organizations who tried to kill me again, but because Jewish Israeli citizens threatened to harm me. And for what? Why? Because I dared to say that there are extremist settlers who commit hate crimes against Palestinians. For a moment I felt like the boy from 'emperor's new clothes', who tells the truth while everyone else looks away. Yes, we have our disagreements on a wide range of matters, too wide".
He added: "But facts come before different outlooks and disagreements and here are a few of them: over the past year 134 cases were opened in Judea and Samaria for nationalistic crimes and 40 indictments were filed. A rise of 40% compared to 2021. Was the increase in arrests because of a rise in crime? Or many because the police force in Judea and Samaria has improved? I assume both are the case. and I hope that this year that crime in general and nationalistic crime, in particular, go down, and the police in Judea and Samaria enforce more.
The Public Security Ministry is unique and different from the rest of the ministries in the government. It has three security bodies under it: The Police Force, the Prisons Service, and the Fire and Rescue Service. But that's not the only different thing: those three bodies express and realize our Israeliness to the fullest extent. In all three, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Circassians, all of them Israelis, serve side by side, they work for one goal: the public security of the state's citizens, they are committed to one goal and they are an example of Israeliness in its finest."
According to Bar-Lev "In the Public Security Ministry and its subordinate bodies, there is no supremacy of one religion or gender on the other. Everyone is a partner, everyone is equal. Two months ago the Police Commissioner gave out citations to officers. The makeup of those who received those awards was inspiring, the make-up of Israel's entire society. Officers from the center of the country and the periphery, regular officers and Border Police officers, Jewish, Muslim, Druze, and Christian officers, men and women. Interestingly, 23% of those who received the awards were not Jewish, double the percentage that they make up in the force."
Minister Ben-Gvir turned to Bar-Lev and stated: "We had many disagreements but no one can disagree with your contribution to the state of Israel."
Ben-Gvir continued: "Sir, you are not the only one to be threatened. Speak to my wife and children and you will discover that every week we receive photos of bloody knives and threats to murder us. It doesn't come from Israel's enemies but rather from anarchist Jews who it has come time to deal with."
"You said that tens of cases were opened in Judea and Samaria, and I'm not making light of that. But sir, but hundreds of cases of rock-throwing at us in Hebron, against Hebron residents, against residents of Samaria, the Negev, and the Galilee, and Jews are afraid to walk around and even go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Mutual responsibility causes us not to stand in place but to run forward and strengthen every one of our security."
"Every terrorist that wishes to harm security forces will feel the consequences and I will give you full support in this war. For you, for your families, and our families."