| On Sunday, March 7, 1999, the Cabinet unanimously approved the
Prime Minister's proposal to create a national security council. The
council will serve as a coordinating, integrative, deliberative and
supervisory body on matters of national policy, and will operate
as an arm of the Prime Minister's Office. The Cabinet took note of the Prime Minister's statement that he has appointed Major-General (res.) David Ivry to chair the Council and to serve as national security advisor. The Prime Minister said that no person in the State of Israel is more qualified to hold this very important post than Ivry. The Prime Minister will inform the Cabinet of other senior Council appointments when they are made. The Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office, in conjunction with the Finance Minister and the Civil Service Commissioner, and with the knowledge of the Prime Minister, was charged with determining the budgetary and organizational framework for Council operations no later than 1.4.99. As set forth in Cabinet decisions, the Council's objectives and functions are: to serve as a national security staff attached to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; the Council will derive its authority from the Government, and operate in accordance with the instructions of the Prime Minister. The head of the Council will answer directly to the Prime Minister; to function as a senior advisory forum for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on matters of national security; to centralize an assessment of expected trends and processes, through integrating all strata of national security; to direct integrative staff work between Government ministries and offices dealing with national security, receiving input on their various areas of responsibility toward increasing coordination and integration between them; to prepare for discussions by the Cabinet, the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs and the Prime Minister, and to brief Knesset committees on these issues, in accordance with the instructions of the Prime Minister; to make recommendations on national security policy to the Cabinet; to engage in the long-range planning of national security components, with the assistance of existing planning bodies in those Government ministries and offices dealing with national security; to monitor and update national security activities, and to look after the implementation of national security decisions, and to maintain coordinative and cooperative relations with parallel national security officials in selected countries, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and its missions abroad, and in accordance with acceptable practice. The Prime Minister ordered that the non-conventional weapons and ballistic missile threats be immediately addressed by the Council as its top priority. The Prime Minister offered the following comments during the Cabinet discussion on the National Security Council: "The need to create a national security council has been repeatedly raised by various quarters -- including commissions of inquiry, statesmen, military officials, academics and the Knesset -- over the past 25 years. "National security issues involve political questions which draw upon various fields that fall under the responsibility of different Government offices. A multi- dimensional analytical entity is thus required. "It is no coincidence that most countries with national security councils deal, first and foremost, with strategic threats posed by ballistic missiles and non-conventional weapons -- and Israel also requires new analytical and practical assessments on this issue. "We are also moving into an economic world where strength on the plane of national security is directly influenced by economic and technological power. These are two important dimensions which, in the past, have not been addressed in an organized and expanded fashion. "Few believed that we would succeed in creating this body, and we are doing it today. Our commitment to this matter is clear and absolute. The National Security Council will take its rightful place in the spheres of strategic thought and the integration of work by relevant offices, and in assisting the Government and the Cabinet in these functions." The Prime Minister praised the Defense and Foreign Ministers for their support in the formation of the Council. The Attorney-General, who welcomed the creation of the Council, noted that the Cabinet decision constitutes the implementation of the 1991 law on the operation of a national security staff. |
