Trooper and Handel Launch Campaign Demanding National Security Ministry Portfolio

The "Beit Tzioni - Reservists" party, led by MK Hili Trooper and former minister Yoaz Handel, launched their election campaign on Wednesday evening at an activists' conference. They outlined key demands for the next government formation, with Trooper declaring that the National Security Ministry should be entrusted to Handel. Trooper criticized the ministry's management in recent years, condemning what he called ineffective leadership focused on social media appearances rather than real action.

Handel described personal security as a front where the state is losing ground, emphasizing the need to dismantle autonomous authorities in the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors and enforce mandatory service for all citizens. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded sharply, accusing the former Bennett-Abbas government partners, Handel and Trooper, of involvement in controversies such as freezing enforcement in the Negev, halting tree planting, stopping scholarships for IDF soldiers, and transferring 50 billion shekels to the Islamic Movement. Ben-Gvir vowed that Otzma Yehudit would retain control of the ministry in the next government.

The party set two threshold conditions for joining a coalition: forming a Zionist government and passing a conscription law before the government is established. They also presented the "Magen David Plan," which includes creating a dedicated Shin Bet unit to combat crime in Arab society, conditioning funding for educational institutions on core curriculum studies, and expanding benefits for reservists.