National Security Council to Classify Frontier Communities

Israeli communities near Jerusalem security barrier are to receive high-risk status from the National Security Council, which oversees the regulation and security of Israeli communities on the Jerusalem Seam Zone. This body has decided to award the high-risk status of frontier zone to 14 communities that border the security barrier. Included in this list is the Mishor Adumim industrial zone.

This classification will give the Border Police full authority over their security.  It comes 20 years after the issue was brought to the attention of the Cabinet.

In 2001 the government decided to implement the Jerusalem Seam Zone Plan. In 2006, the government divided the operational responsibilities in the area between the military and the Border Police, placing the latter in charge of security for Seam Zone communities. A work plan drafted between the IDF and Border Police in 2007 detailed the necessary measures to complete the move, but the plan was never implemented, and the military retained the funds while the Border Police shouldered the burden on the ground.

Some progress was achieved in 2017 and 2019, but the prolonged election campaign that stretched into 2020 prevented the conclusion of the matter.

In late 2021 the Border Police announced that it would be pulling its troops from the area, which in turn prompted the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council to petition the High Court of Justice on the matter.

A senior Border Police official rejected the claim, telling Israel Hayom, “The announcement aside, we’re still there and we still bear [security] responsibility for the area.”

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said, “The preparatory work done by the National Security Council was completed at the end of 2018. Recently, and in light of the budget approval, work on the issue was renewed and a new decision proposal will be formulated to regulate it.”