Beersheba’s Municipal Security Patrol Accused of Acting Like an Unauthorized Police Force
Beersheba’s city-run security patrol has become the focus of a major dispute over whether it has gone beyond its legal mandate. The unit, created in 2022 after the “Guardian of the Walls” unrest and expanded after October 7, is staffed mostly by young former combat soldiers and Border Police personnel employed through a manpower company, not as municipal workers. In a January 2026 city hall meeting, Mayor Rubik Danilovich praised the patrol as “heroes,” even as officials reviewed video showing chases on motorcycles, detentions, and searches of civilians.
The city says the patrol helps fill a policing gap in a town where residents long felt the Israel Police had failed to provide security. Danilovich said the city had “hit the right dosage” with the unit and warned that the country is in a difficult security environment. Patrol commander Lior Zohar, a former police officer who left after 31 years of service, told officials the force usually reaches incidents in five to six minutes and arrives first. He argued that police are too small for their workload, citing cases where people who call 100 do not get a quick response.
The patrol’s budget was about 26 million shekels in 2025, funded by a new security levy on residents. It has about 65 patrol members and roughly 100 staff in total. By comparison, the Beersheba police station has about 280 officers. Police handled about 114,000 incidents in 2025 and early 2026, while the patrol handled 5,651 in 2025. The city also credits cameras and technology for a roughly 38.5% drop in burglaries, though police sources said the decline and rising indictments are mainly the result of police work and the help of about 5,000 cameras and drones.
During the meeting, council members pushed for publicizing the patrol’s hotline, but Danilovich rejected the idea, saying residents should still call 100 and warning that telling them to call the patrol could mean “removing responsibility” from the police. The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel wrote to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, saying the patrol is operating beyond the powers granted by law and effectively replacing police. They asked her to order a nationwide clarification limiting such municipal forces, especially before election season. Beersheba municipality replied that the patrol acts within the law and alongside police.
