Chris Minns open to arming Jewish security group with links to Israel
Former member tells Deepcut that the Community Security Group is a 'recruiting ground for Israeli intelligence'
A local Jewish security group could soon be allowed to carry weapons in Sydney, as the NSW government considers options in response to the Bondi massacre last Sunday.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, was asked by Sky News reporter Sharri Markson on Tuesday if “there’s an argument for the Jewish security, the CSG (Community Security Group), to have weapons so they could respond to serious threats like this”, to which Minns replied: “Yes, I do.”
Minns then revealed the government was in talks with the CSG about allowing them to carry weapons at “Jewish events in particular”. The premier said the CSG was already permitted to be armed at Jewish places of worship and Jewish schools.
The remarks come as the Victorian government pledged $900,000 to the CSG’s Victorian chapter in the wake of the Bondi attack.
Minns’s comments have sparked concern from the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, which warned that “the risk of guns being stolen and used illegally is too high”.
“The more guns in the community, the less secure we are, and any gun reform including reviewing the use of it by the CSG needs to be weighed against that cost,” Timothy Roberts, NSWCCL president, said.
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person and this must be the prevailing consideration. We agree with the premier in that we need to ensure everybody is safe. This means taking effective action to reduce gun crime and inappropriate gun use,” he told Deepcut.
Who are the CSG?
The Community Security Group operates in New South Wales and Victoria, with a stated mission to protect “Jewish life and Jewish way of life in our local community”.
A former CSG member who spoke to Deepcut on the condition of anonymity said the group had been operating underground in Australia since the 1950s. The Australian Business Register shows the CSG was first registered in NSW in 2000 and Victoria in 2005.
A key player in the group’s founding was the late Holocaust survivor, Julius Nadel, who migrated to Australia in 1949. Nadel received CIA training in the 1940s before, according to a Jewish community news outlet, being “recruited by the heads of the Sydney Jewish community to assist with security matters within the community”.
In 2019, CSG NSW’s head of security, Matthew Meyerson, said the group had “more than 300 volunteers across its various divisions, with hundreds training together every week”.
Links to Israel
Details of the CSG’s operations were disclosed by an ASIO investigation, as reported by the Guardian in February this year. The investigation centred on the activities of an Australian army officer, anonymised as HWMW, who had received training in Israel with the CSG.
ASIO revoked the officer’s security clearance, citing that the officer “has demonstrated a higher level of loyalty to Israel than to the Australian Government”.
Reasons published by the Administrative Review Tribunal in February noted that HWMW did not disclose his training in Israel to his Australian superiors, partly because it “would require answering more questions about the CSG, which he had been told by the CSG to be guarded about”.
Recruiting pool for Mossad
During the investigation, HWMW told ASIO that “CSG training [in Israel] could be considered a ‘natural recruiting pool’ for Mossad as they would likely be aware of the training courses”.
The former CSG member confirmed this to Deepcut, saying that “CSG has a long history as a recruiting ground for Israeli intelligence agencies. They have an open two-way line of communication with these intelligence agencies.”
The former member said they were also offered a trip to train in Israel, but left the organisation.
“They only send people on trips when they graduate from junior guards to senior guards, which usually happens in about two years,” they said.
No response
Deepcut sent questions to the NSW Premier’s office, NSW Police and ASIO. NSW Police directed questions to the Premier’s office, which offered no response.
ASIO said it “does not comment on investigations”, referring to HWMW and his involvement with CSG.
What about the returned IDF/IOF soldiers fresh from committing war crimes - they now get guns and a license to harass people in public places?
Where is the evidence to suggest that armed “guards” would protect civilians?