This year a new report analyzing the activities of private security companies was published by the research center, Who Profit from the Occupation; with the collaboration of NOVACT (International Institute for Nonviolent Action) in the exchange of information.

“Private Security Companies and the Israeli Occupation” aims to expose and describe the involvement of private security companies in West Bank and East Jerusalem checkpoints and settlements. The report analyzes the privatization of the checkpoints, mainly along the Separation Wall, the operation of checkpoints and the outsourcing process in West Bank settlements. It highlights the role of private security guards in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian population.

Private security companies in Israel play an active role in the occupation of Palestinian land and control over Palestinian people. These private security guards, hired by the state of Israel to operate checkpoints and guard settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, have policing powers: they bear arms and are entitled to use force in performing their duties.

Inequality

The employment of private security guards enables state authorities to provide security services only to the settlers, without acknowledging or meeting the security needs of the Palestinian communities around the settlements. This situation creates an inherent inequality between the Palestinian and the Jewish population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Israeli control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) is implemented through various security and police forces. In recent decades, many military responsibilities were handed over to private civilian companies, turning the private security industry into one of the fastest growing industries in Israel. Private security companies guard settlements and construction sites in the oPt, and some are also in charge of the day-to-day operation, security and maintenance of Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.

Responsibility

Usually, the workers who are contracted for this privatized jobs are not directly employed by the state, enabling the Israeli authorities to shirk their responsibility for activities taking place in the checkpoints. While the Israeli authorities take full responsibility for the activities of their employees, the private security companies’ responsibility for their workers is inadequate. The vast privatization policy of the Israeli governments contributes to the security companies’ growth in capital and authority and reduces state responsibility for security operations in the oPt.

NOVACT (International Institute for Nonviolent Action) has collaborated in the exchange of information for the realization of this report.