Amir Ohana
Amir OhanaDavid Cohen/FLASH90

The Border Police will be tasked with cracking down on agricultural crimes, with a new Border Police unit to be formed specifically for farm-related theft, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana (Likud) is set to announce Monday.

The announcement is to be made at a special conference focusing on agricultural theft in the Negev and Galilee, Israel Hayom reported.

Ohana is expected to outline at the conference a number of steps to combat agricultural theft, based on plans drawn up following the decision in 2017 by then-police chief Ron Alsheich to transfer responsibility for agricultural crimes from Israel Police to the Border Police, who will work in conjunction with local police units.

The shift in policy did not result in any significant changes in enforcement till now, however, with surveys of farmers indicating no improvement in the overall situation.

“I’ve been following the subject of the efforts to combat agricultural terrorism and crime on the village level for years, going back to my time as an MK,” said Ohana. “Families have been destroyed and incredible suffering left in the wake of these crimes, and this change will be a great help in this regard.”