Police announced Tuesday the launch of a nationwide operation to combat juvenile delinquency and violence by youth gangs in the wake of a series of lethal stabbings involving minors last week that shocked the public.

Police chief Danny Levy announced the operation following a situation assessment.

Increased police forces will begin operating in recreational areas and other public places, particularly in the Tel Aviv District. Law enforcement will also take proactive steps against gangs and other instigators, police said.

The increased presence will be both overt and covert, the force noted.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees police, said in his own statement that the operation will focus specifically on south Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva, the latter being the site of a lethal stabbing last week on Independence Day.

“The sight of teenagers engaging in murderous violence is unbearable, we will not accept it, and we will root it out,” he said. “My policy is clear: zero tolerance for those who disrupt public order, undermine governance and harm civilians. This will be an all-out war.”

Hundreds of officers in the National Guard, a controversial policing force spearheaded by Ben Gvir, will reinforce local police in the operation, primarily in Tel Aviv. The initiative will be coordinated with police detectives in the Investigations and Intelligence Division.

The National Guard has been active across the country for over a year, but it remains unclear who it answers to or what its mandate is, according to a February report by the Knesset’s Research and........

© The Times of Israel