Following the arson of the buses in Safed and Kiryat Shmona, we headed north in order to meet the fear face to face, and to understand how the protection mechanism works, which has become a coup d'etat.
"I pay NIS 7,000 a month," says G., a contractor in the north who carries out infrastructure work near one of the kibbutzim south of Rosh Pina.
"The majority pay NIS 9,000 a month. In the past, they would put a sticker on the tools, so they knew they should not be harmed. After the police came up with the method and realized it was protection, they stopped, and the security company allegedly put a camera next to the bugger. Everything is fiction. "
What happens to those who do not pay?
"In a day or two, they will burn his bagger or steal parts of it, like the computer."
Does the security company issue you receipts for payment?
"Yes. They work with tidy receipts, but they change the name of the security company every two days."
"I have been paying protection for years," says B., a Druze contractor from Majdal Shams who owns tractors and trucks.
"I am a relatively large contractor, so I pay NIS 15,000 every month. Of course I get an orderly invoice. This is how it is here in the whole area. Those who want peace and are not looking for trouble, have to pay like this from the Hermon line to Netanya, Nothing stops them. "
Job, who are very afraid to identify themselves by name, are among the few who have agreed to speak.
"The bigger companies pay more," explains S., an infrastructure developer who knows the area.
"Take, for example, the project of energy pumped at the Goma junction. As far as I know, Electra, which is the contractor company that performs the work in the field, pays NIS 50,000-60,000 a month in sponsorship fees. This is a huge project."
How can one prove that this is protection, and not really legitimate guarding services?
"It is impossible to prove," he states.
"In this case I can tell you that I was walking around in the field and met face to face with one of the 'guards', and he threatened me. How did he threaten?
Electra denies the allegations.
We asked them to give us the name of the security company they work with, and they refused.
The full investigation will be published tomorrow in "Israel Hashavua"
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