Local leaders from Sderot and neighboring councils have protested plans to reduce troop numbers and cut reserve duty days along the Gaza border, warning the measures would endanger residents and break a prior commitment not to reduce forces before year-end. They sent an urgent letter to the defense minister demanding an immediate halt to cuts affecting civilian security squads and other local defenses. Mayors and movement leaders insist the lessons of October 7 require strengthening the first line of defense, and they have called for consultation, permanent funding and long-term planning for these units.
Gaza-Border Leaders Demand Halt To Planned Security Cuts, Warn Residents Will Be Endangered
IDF Soldiers, Kibbutz Beeri October 15, 2023 (photo credit: REUVEN CASTRO)
Local leaders from Sderot and neighboring councils in southern Israel have sharply rejected government plans to reduce troop levels and cut reserve duty days for communities along the Gaza border, saying the measures would endanger residents and breach an earlier pledge that forces would not be reduced before year-end.
Urgent Appeal to the Defense Minister
The heads of Sderot, Sha'ar HaNegev, Eshkol, Sdot Negev and Hof Ashkelon—together with the Future for the Gaza Border Communities movement—sent an urgent letter to the defense minister on Thursday. They demanded an immediate halt to any reduction in reserve duty days and other changes that would affect civilian security squads and essential security resources.
"The security of Gaza border residents is not an area for budget cuts," the letter stated. "The lessons of October 7 are not learned through declarations, but by maintaining the first line of defense for the Gaza border communities."
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi said the response to October 7 must be to strengthen—not weaken—the local front line. "The civilian security squads are an essential security component that saves lives," he said, adding that any reduction in preparedness or unilateral decisions made without consultation with local authorities "is a mistake that could come at a heavy cost."
Alon Davidi, Mayor of Sderot, Nir Barkat, Minister of Economy and Industry, Uri Epstein, head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, and Zeev Elkin, take part in a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Sapirim Industrial Park in the city of Sderot, southern Israel, January 29, 2026. (credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
Ohad Cohen, CEO of the Future for the Gaza Border Communities movement, echoed those warnings, stressing that community security coordinators and civilian squads have demonstrably saved lives and therefore any cutbacks would be "a mistaken and dangerous step." Cohen called on the defense minister to reverse the planned measures and to honor commitments made to border communities.
The local leaders also demanded formal consultations with municipal and regional officials before any changes are implemented, and pressed for long-term stability through permanent funding and strategic planning for the civilian security system.
Photo caption: A cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Sapirim Industrial Park in Sderot on January 29, 2026, included Mayor Alon Davidi, Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat, Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council head Uri Epstein and Zeev Elkin. (Credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
The letter and public statements underscore a broader demand for clarity, resources and local involvement in decisions that directly affect civilian safety along the Gaza border.
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