Fire in Gaza area
Fire in Gaza areaYonatan Sindel, Flash 90

Security coordinators in Gaza vicinity communities will leave their jobs in their communities on Tuesday, as part of their protest over the conditions of their employment.

The daily Israel Hayom quoted Nir Shurman, a representative of the committee of community security coordinators (who are known as “ravshatzim”), who says that during the morning the security coordinators will stop their work and arrive at a national emergency conference to be held at 10:30 am in Modiin.

According to Shurman, "The security coordinators are forced to embark on a struggle because of the dictating of a unilateral reality that is impossible to implement, created by the commanding ranks in the Defense Ministry. The main part of the struggle is the transfer of security responsibility from the army to civilians, that is, community committees and community leaders, and an increase in the various bodies responsible for the security coordinators, in addition to a disproportionate blanket cut. We are embarking on a struggle without compromise, we will not abandon our communities and our security."

The coordinators complain about the intention of the Home Front Command and the Ministry of Defense to make organizational changes and cut the operating budget of some 430 security coordinators throughout the country. "They are going to cut an average of 25 percent in car maintenance costs, lower standards and more,” the committee of security coordinators was quoted by the paper as saying. “These instructions severely damage day-to-day security systems and, as a result we are forced to disable vehicles."

According to the report, alongside the coordinators from the Gaza vicinity, coordinators from across the country are expected to take part in the conference to express their solidarity with their colleagues and their claims of deterioration in the conditions of their employment.

In the event that the coordinators' demands are not met, they intend to launch even stronger protest measures, including the blocking of traffic arteries.