Posted on 07/15/21
| News Source: i24
Ministerial panel accepts security agency's recommendation to shorten proposed detail to only 6 months
A ministerial panel accepted Thursday the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) recommendation to provide personal protection for Israel's former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's family for six months, rather than the initially requested two years, according to Hebrew media reports and cited in The Times of Israel (TOI).
Kan, the country's national broadcaster claimed that a request was made as far back as December for an extension for the security provided for the former premier's wife, Sara, and his two sons, Avner and Yair - and that it should last two years from the end of Netanyahu's term.
Netanyahu's sons were the first children of a sitting prime minister to be given their own personal bodyguards and paid for from the public purse, according to TOI. Netanyahu's daughter from a previous marriage - Noa Netanyahu-Roth - who is Charedi - does not have bodyguards.
While little seems to be known about Avner, who appears to shy away from the public gaze, Yair is very active on social media and is often seen as the person who frequently publishes what his father might like to say - but would probably not get away with doing so.
The Shin Bet also recommended that security for Israel's only two other living former prime ministers - Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak - should be extended until March 2022, when there will be a further security assessment.
Former prime ministers were not usually entitled to such protection more than five years after leaving office, however, there are fears that prominent Israelis - including ex-high-ranking politicians - might be the targets of Iran.