Lapid blasts Israeli government's proposed budget cuts to form Ben Gvir's 'private militia'

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid claimed on Saturday that the Israeli government will cut the welfare and education budgets in order to finance the National Guard requested by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

“Tomorrow morning the government is supposed to vote on cuts in all government ministries to finance Ben Gvir’s private militia,” said Lapid. “They will cut healthcare, they will cut education, they will cut welfare, they will cut public transportation, all to finance a private army of thugs for the TikTok clown.”

Ben Gvir is expected to formally request a 2,000-member National Guard be created and placed under the National Security Ministry during the government’s Cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly promised Ben Gvir command of the force in exchange for his support to postpone the coalition’s judicial overhaul, which has divided Israeli society over the past three months.

While Lapid warned about welfare cuts, former Israel Police Chief Moshe Karadi called Ben Gvir a “tangible danger” to the Jewish state, claiming that the minister had plans to implement policies of “Jewish supremacy.”

“We are in the midst of Israel’s darkest period,” claimed Karadi. “The fate of the Israel Police and the IDF troubles me. Ben Gvir poses a tangible danger to the country and must be removed from his post as minister as soon as possible.”