Israeli Security Committee to Discuss Protection for Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan

The Israeli Public Advisory Committee on Personal Security will convene on Sunday to discuss security requests for Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yisrael! party, and Yair Golan, chairman of the Democratic camp. The committee will hear recommendations from security agencies including the Shin Bet and the police. This meeting follows a directive from Noam Solberg, chairman of the Elections Committee and Deputy President of the Supreme Court, who instructed the National Security Council head Shmuel Ben Ezra to have the committee address the security of party leaders even if they are not Knesset members.

The advisory committee is chaired by retired Colonel Ronen Cohen, who recently criticized Eisenkot harshly, associating him with the October 7 attacks despite Eisenkot having left his role as IDF Chief of Staff five years prior. Cohen expressed concerns about Eisenkot’s leadership qualities and potential danger to Israel.

Eisenkot’s chief of staff, Ron Barkai, sent a letter to Shin Bet chief David Zini and the Personal Security Unit requesting official personal protection for Eisenkot. Barkai argued that despite Eisenkot’s status as a leading prime ministerial candidate, he currently relies on private security from his party, which does not match the intelligence assessments or threat level. Barkai highlighted the rising public tensions and increasing physical threats, citing an incident where right-wing activist Mordechai David approached Eisenkot at a beach as evidence of the danger.

The Shin Bet responded that protection of state symbols is determined by law and cabinet decisions, and that they continuously monitor and counter threats against Eisenkot. Last month, it was revealed that Eisenkot’s campaign decided to provide private security at large events and field visits after Shin Bet declined to assign official protection. Officially, Eisenkot is not protected by Shin Bet as he holds no formal government position, and there is no established protocol for securing political candidates despite potential risks during the election campaign.