Royal Yisraeli Civil Guard
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| Royal Yisraeli Civil Guard המשמר האזרחי המלכותי | |
|---|---|
| Common name | Mash'az; plural: Mashazim |
| Abbreviation | RYCG |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1718 |
| Employees | ~10,500 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | Yisrael |
| Operations jurisdiction | Yisrael |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Yerushalayim, Yisrael |
| Agency executive |
|
The Royal Yisraeli Civil Guard (Modern Hebrew: המשמר האזרחי המלכותי), also referred to as Mash'az or RYGC (colloquially), is a special religious police force in Yisrael. It is a national police agency under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior whose chief responsibilities are to investigate and prosecute vice and violations of high-level public and private moral laws. Its duties include civil and criminal investigations; it is considered a sister organization to the Royal Yisraeli Special Political Police.
Owing to its specialized mission, the Mash'az usually only has a mandate to pursue violations of Jewish law against the majority Jewish population; however, it has limited authority against non-Jews for violations of the Noahide laws (otherwise, non-Jews are governed in their religious conduct in the confessional system under their religious tradition's laws and in regular civil courts for general Yisraeli law).
The RYCG has a close relationship with the YeMep - particularly in cases where religious and general ideological crimes overlap.
Like other areas of Yisrael's religious-based political order, the Mash'az has been criticized by domestic and foreign groups who object to the state-sponsored enforcement of religious norms; in opposition to these criticisms, other religious faiths of Yisrael's minorities such as the Fabrian Catholic Church and others praise the special police force and its powers as it permits its own religious courts have authority over its adherents in Yisrael.
It is sometimes referred to by cooperative foreign police forces as the "Yisraeli national vice squad." Unusually, unlike other Yisraeli police services, it does not have the word "police" included in its title, and while termed a "civil guard," does not share the gendarmerie-oriented duties and mandate of most foreign civil guard forces.
Role and mandate
The RYCG pursues the most severe violations of the Code of Jewish Law that are non-general societal laws (e.g. specifically religious and spiritual laws). While the regular Yisraeli police prosecute crimes such as murder and petty theft, the Mashazim pursue crimes such as a Jew opening a shop on the Sabbath, homosexual or adulterous activity, or the public consumption of non-kosher food.
The penalties run from small civil fines to serious criminal prosecutions. For example, a man arrested for consuming non-kosher food in public in front of two witnesses is given a $500 shekel fine; conversely, an indictment for adultery can run a three-to-ten year jail sentence and hefty fine.
On rare occasions, non-Jews' conduct comes under the Mashazim's purview: any violation of the of the Noahide Laws, including, among others, sexual transgressions (adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, etc.), the denial of G-d's existence (advocacy of atheism), animal cruelty (cutting the limb off a live animal), and other select charges. Murder and theft, however, are tried under regular criminal courts.
All cases are brought under the Royal Yisraeli Court for Moral Crimes for prosecution.
History
Organization
- Sexual Crimes Section: The primary division that handles forbidden sexual transgressions, including adulterous, homosexual, bestial, incestuous, rape, and other deviant sexual conduct.
- High Public Crimes Section: The main division that investigates, surveils, and pursues so-called "public crimes", such as public desecrations of the Sabbath (e.g. Jewish-owned businesses staying open on the Sabbath, Jews driving on the Sabbath, etc.), consumption of non-kosher food by a Jew at a non-Jewish establishment, public nudity and hooliganism, kidnapping, prostitution, and a litany of miscellaneous offenses. These police officers liaise and cooperate in conjunction with the Royal Yisraeli Special Political Police's Political and Ideological Criminal Affairs Section as it relates to ideological crimes such as secularism or atheism, which as political crimes are considered "public."
- Financial Crimes Section: This division handles monetary crimes between Jews such as fraud, usury, embezzlement, and similar offenses.
- High Dishonor Crimes Section: This division pursues the crimes of perjury, contempt of court, and excessive defiance and dishonor from a child towards his/her parent(s).
Gallery
Members of the Mashazim on the beat in Dervaylik, c. 2017.
Police officers of the RYCG concluding a hooliganism investigation at the Herzalon Central Park, Ashkelon.
Chief Inspector of the Royal Yisraeli Civil Guard, Zalman Sayegh, testifying before the Royal Knesset, c. 2018.
