Shin Bet To Guard Eisenkot From Sunday

The Shin Bet will place Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot under protected detail starting Sunday morning, with a private security company operating on the direct instructions of Unit 730, the agency's division assigned to protect public figures.

The decision arrives after months of back and forth over who qualifies for state-backed protection. In August, Shin Bet chief David Zini concluded that Eisenkot did not meet the criteria for Unit 730 coverage. That ruling stood until the Advisory Committee for Personal Security reviewed fresh intelligence and threat assessments on the Yashar leader in September. The committee then advised the agency to take charge of his security, and Zini approved.

Approval did not immediately produce a detail. Yashar told The Jerusalem Post in September that no protective team had been assigned to Eisenkot even after Zini signed off on coverage.

The security package Zini authorized for party leaders includes an intelligence oversight and support framework run by intelligence agencies, permission for security teams hired by party leaders to carry weapons, coordination between the Shin Bet and those teams, and periodic assessments to measure the threat level facing each leader.

The Ministerial Committee for Shin Bet Affairs granted Zini the power to set security arrangements for party leaders who hold no public office and are not otherwise eligible for state protection. That authority remains in place until the next Knesset is sworn in.

Not every party leader seeking cover has received it. Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats, petitioned for Shin Bet protection as well, pointing to a threat level he described as comparable to Eisenkot's. The Shin Bet has declined to provide him immediate protection at this stage.

Eisenkot leads Yashar, one of the parties represented in the Knesset. The agency has not released details on the number of guards assigned to him or the cost of the arrangement.

Zini's authority to arrange such protection applies only to party leaders without public office. Once a new Knesset is sworn in, that mandate lapses.