IN CONTEXT
MAGAV
“EVERYTHING THE IDF (ISRAEL’S MILITARY) DOES TO
protect civilians and to stop the deaths of
innocent civilians is a great deal more than
any other army, and it’s more than the British
and the American armies,” says Colonel (ret)
Richard Kemp CBE, former commander of
the British armed forces in Afghanistan, and
a fierce international advocate for Israel and
the IDF in the wake of 2012’s Operation Pillar
of Defence in Gaza.
Kemp is committed to spreading the truth
in all regions of the world. “People ask me
why I have a pro-IDF point of view. I consider
myself as having an objective view of what’s
happening over here. The IDF does not need
me to defend them; they have proven it over
the years,” he said. “It’s the dispassionate
military perspective that I bring.”
Kemp was an almost lone voice in
defending the actions of the IDF during
Israel’s Operation Cast Lead. He testified
36 JEWISH LIFE ■ ISSUE 83
before the UN, opposing the Goldstone
Report, saying no army in the history of
warfare had done as much as the IDF to
avoid civilian casualties.
Less well known than the IDF but equally
committed to the protection and survival of
Israel’s citizens is Magav: the Israel Border
Police, which is the gendarmerie and border
security branch of the Israel National Police.
While its main task is securing Israel’s
borders, it has also been deployed in both
assisting the IDF and for counter-terrorism
and law enforcement operations in the West
Bank and in Jerusalem.
When the State of Israel was declared in
1948, a Jewish Agency status committee
was formed, headed by Golda Meir. Its aim
was to establish the infrastructure
necessary for the newly founded state,
which included patrolling Israel’s borders
and preventing terrorist activities. The
Israel Border Police
I BY BEV GOLDMAN
head of the team tasked with establishing
the police ministry was Yehezkel Sahar,
who later became the first commissioner of
the Israel Police. His proposal to the
committee was to found two organisations
working side by side – a police force and a
gendarmerie. The Israel Police was
established shortly after the foundation of
the state; the gendarmerie was established
after the 1948 War, to provide security in
rural areas and along the borders. In the
course of the following years, it was
gradually transferred to the command of
the Israel Police, and became the Border
Police, securing new settlements and
countering infiltration of Palestinian
fedayeen from Egypt and Jordan.
Israel’s defence mechanisms range across
a wide spectrum, from the IDF through
intelligence to surveillance and everything
in between. Hence the need for the
PHOTOGRAPH: WIKIPEDIA.COM
ISRAEL