It was only in June 2013, a year after the military defense plan for the platforms has been approved by the defense minister and the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, that suggestions for defending the platforms was discussed. The idea at the time was to confer the overall task of protecting Israel’s economic waters to private, nongovernmental entities.

However, according to a summary of the National Security Council’s subsequent discussions on the issue, it was found that the cheapest option was for the navy to carry out that mission.