Since 1948, Israel has been a country that has put its efforts into defending its borders against the enemy. Boundless effort have been invested in developing technologies and capabilities that will preserve Israel's military and defensive upper hand against the constant threats against it.
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Meanwhile, a clear view has developed that while the regular army can handle short military operations, it's the reservists who will win the war. There is a reason why there are four reservists for every one enlisted soldiers. As history has shown, the reservists are the sector of the population who care the most and are most influential in an extreme situation.
But if the country was able to develop leading technology to keep its borders secure, how do we explain the failure when it comes to domestic public security?
Violence in nearly every aspect of our lives has become an existential nuisance. As a matter of routine, thousands of businesses are forced to pay protection to criminals; Arab society is seeing daily murders and murders of women; illegal construction to the tune of hundreds of thousands of structures; an inconceivable quantity of illegal guns; hundreds of thousands of acres of land being pirated; agricultural terrorism and theft on an epic scale; and basically many areas in which there is virtually no police presence or any kind of law enforcement – especially in the Negev.
What is absurd is that while the IDF is conducted some complicated operation somewhere, it loses control of a few hundred acres of firing ranges, and has weapons and ammunition stolen that could supply entire brigades.
This situation is incredible and is leading us into disaster. We need to understand that right now, domestic security challenges are the top national priority for the next 10 years.
We need to dramatically increase the number of police, who are wearing themselves thin due to a serious lack of manpower. Because this is not economically feasible, certainly not in the time of COVID, we need to set up a system of volunteers and police reservists ages 38-70 who will give 12 to 18 days a year, similar to the military model. This would treble the number of existing police officers and police presence and increase enforcement activity.
We need to establish a police presence in every corner of the country, at all hours of the day. People must be allowed to voluntarily turn in illegal guns, and if someone is caught in possession of an illegal gun, he must be put in jail immediately.
Courts also need to revise their approach and realize once and for all that those who pity the brutal will eventually turn into brutes who prey on the innocent. We must ensure that criminals are punished appropriately and not released from custody 24 hours after being arrested.
The rape of a 10-year-old girl in the Negev by a gang of Bedouin home invaders and dozens of young people who hold a military demonstration with M-16s at Tel Sheva, should shake us to our core. This is testimony of how daring they have become and that the worst is still to come.
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