The Bennett-Lapid government is setting new records - this time, for the greatest number of senior coalition members to fly abroad in the shortest space of time. In the past fortnight alone, 13 ministers and one deputy minister made an official trip abroad, and each one of them was accompanied by a security detail.
According to Walla, that's the problem. Magen, the government security unit run from within the Prime Minister's Office, is simply overloaded and unable to cope with such a high demand for its services.
Over the past two weeks, Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli, Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern, and Culture Minister Yehiel Tropper all traveled - separately - to the United Arab Emirates. Agriculture Minister Oded Forer, Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana, and Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej all made working trips to the United States. And Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, and Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel all traveled to London for a conference. Other ministers flew to additional locations across the world.
Walla quotes unnamed government sources as telling them that "Magen is in crisis. They are struggling to meet security demands of the like we haven't seen in the past decade." They even suggested that due to the need to secure ministers' foreign trips, security for government members within Israel was likely to suffer.
Responding to the allegations, the security and emergency department within the Prime Minister's Office stated: "The security and emergency department of the PMO does not comment on professional matters related to the functioning of the security department. The department is meeting its obligations and will continue to do so."