Dealing with the coronavirus is not a medical issue, and it hasn't been one for a while now. It is a logistical operation being waged on a battlefield filled with ambiguity. It is an operation that only the Defense Ministry has the experience, knowledge and ability to tackle.
Dealing with an event on such a scale requires high levels of ability in various fields, demanding discipline, solid outreach capabilities, ordered logistical and operational readiness for responding to a wide range of scenarios and the ability to build tactical and strategic responses across multiple organizations.
This is all before we have even touched on the need to tackle the challenge of the epidemic in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority.
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Police enforcing coronavirus restrictions in a Haredi area of Jerusalem
(Photo: Gilad Cohen )
Who but the Defense Ministry has the credentials to deal with the reality of the current situation?
In August 2004, as Israel Police commissioner, I participated by the security cabinet where the issue of the responsibility for carrying out the disengagement mission to evacuate the Gaza settlement bloc Gush Katif was first raised.
At the hearing, a dispute arose between then-defense minister Shaul Mofaz and then-public security minister Tzachi Hanegbi.
Mofaz's position, which reflected that of the IDF, was that the task should be handed on the police and the responsibility to manage it given to the Public Security Ministry in the grounds that IDF soldiers are unaccustomed to missions involving civilians, and that this was a question of law enforcement by nature.
Hanegbi on the other hand claimed that the police force did not have the manpower to carry out such a task.
When the late prime minister Ariel Sharon asked me about my position in the argument, I expressed the same stance as Hanegbi. I also said that such a task required at least a year of preparation and that it would dramatically impact on the police ability to function throughout that year.
There was a sense in the discussion that everyone was right.
Sharon concluded by saying that there are tasks that only security agencies are able to carry out, while only the Defense Ministry was able to manage the administrative side.
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Police officers removing settlers from Gaza during the 2005 disengagement
(Photo: Amit Shabi)
And so it was decided that the task of actually evacuating the settlers from Gaza would be entrusted to the police while overall responsibility for the operational and logistical preparations would be carried out by the IDF.
The overall responsibility for carrying out the task was given to the Defense Ministry, with the minister of public security having the final say in the decision-making process.
What helped the execution of the mission was completely divorcing this process of dividing responsibilities from any political, national or security perspectives about the disengagement.
Israel’s disengagement from Gaza is not the only example: Over the years, other civilian missions have been entrusted to the Defense Ministry.
There is a reason why over the years the Israel Police, IDF Home Front Command, Magen David Adom emergency service and the Fire and Rescue Services have collaborated to prepare for extreme scenarios and disasters such as a massive earthquake.
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IDF troops wearing protective gear against coronavirus
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )
Events of this scale require massive logistical and operational mobilization while responsibility is often passed from one body to another. They demand solid command and control capabilities and mutual assistance.
In my various postings in the Israel Police, and especially as its commissioner, I have been seen first hand the capabilities of the government ministries, the emergency services and the various security agencies.
With all due respect to the Health Ministry, it is not built to oversee an event of this magnitude, despite the talented people who are part of this ministry.
The Health Ministry has a major role on the current battlefield; it has the exclusive mandate to assess the medical situation in the fields of prevention and treatment, but this campaign far exceeds its capabilities.
In my humble opinion, based on my many years of experience, the overall responsibility for treating the coronavirus must be transferred to the Defense Ministry as soon as possible.
Moshe Karadi is a former commissioner of the Israel Police