Itamar Ben Gvir, the chair of the Otzma Yehudit party and likely to be made police minister in the next government, suggested on Saturday that left-wing activists were to blame for being physically assaulted and taunted by soldiers in Hebron, a city in the West Bank.
Ben Gvir, who will hold the expanded public security minister position of national security minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming government, called on the police to determine whether the activists had provoked the troops.
The Israeli Defense Forces suspended two soldiers on Friday for their behavior in the most recent incident involving the Givati infantry brigade in the flashpoint city. This prompted the remarks.
“These extremist leftists who come to Hebron are well-known to me.Ben Gvir claimed in a statement that the soldiers are abused, insulted, cursed, and frequently attacked.I ask the police to look into this case to see if the extreme leftists didn’t first hurt soldiers to provoke them and make the photos look fake.
While he said there was “no space for hurting outrageous liberals based on their perspectives,” Ben Gvir charged that activists frequently just report portions of their showdowns with troops. “Additionally, the extreme leftists should be arrested and tried as soon as it becomes clear that they harmed and assaulted the soldiers.
The far-right legislator also said that he would demand clarifications from the military regarding the soldiers’ suspension once a government is formed when he appeared on Channel 12’s “Meet the Press” on Saturday evening.
One soldier can be seen tackling an activist to the ground and punching him in the face, seemingly without provocation, in footage shared by Breaking the Silence, a non-governmental organization that collects and publishes mostly anonymous testimony from former Israeli combat soldiers regarding alleged human rights violations against Palestinians.
A soldier from the same squad was seen confronting an activist in a separate video from the scene and boasting, “Ben Gvir is going to sort things out in this place” and “that’s it, you guys have lost… the party’s over.”
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi issued a statement on Saturday criticizing soldiers’ actions during the incident and in other recent instances of soldiers using force against Israelis and Palestinians, stressing that troops were not permitted to use force without justification.
In a letter to troops, he stated, “Incidents such as these tarnish the unit in which the soldier serves, the IDF, and the State of Israel.”
He stated, “I am aware of the complicated reality you operate in and understand the challenges you face,” but added that finding a balance between force and restraint was a soldier’s responsibility.
He claimed that soldiers’ political remarks and use of force were in violation of the military’s code of conduct.
On Saturday, Benny Gantz, the minister of defense, said that the army’s strict code of conduct and values were crucial to the country’s security and the “cornerstone” of its mission.
“I have faith that commanders will deal with any anomaly and prevent politics from interfering with the IDF’s operations and priorities.He stated, “We must not permit nationalism and internal disputes to enter the IDF.”
In an act of solidarity, the activists had traveled to Hebron to meet with local Palestinian families after Israeli pilgrims who were in the city last week started fighting with Palestinians.
In the video, soldiers were seen attempting to detain a man before one soldier punched and knocked him to the ground.It was heard that another soldier was yelling at the other activists:Get out of here immediately.
His lawyer told the Ynet news site that his client was still being held despite his injuries and that Israeli police questioned him for allegedly assaulting a soldier and preventing him from performing his duties.The lawyer stated that two additional activists were briefly detained for unknown reasons.The activists’ assault was not captured on camera at the scene.
A patch that read “One shot” was velcroed to the back of the soldier’s military vest.One kill.No regret.I choose.Military regulations prohibit patches that do not feature the logo of a military unit or the Israeli flag.
According to a statement released by the IDF, the incidents would be investigated by Maj.Yehuda Fuchs, General
The third violent incident involving Givati Brigade troops in Hebron in recent weeks occurred on Friday.
After a soldier cursed an activist for Breaking the Silence, the IDF suspended him last week.You are a traitor to the nation and the child of a whore and a mistress.The soldier replied, “I wish you got cancer all over your body.”
The alleged assault on a Palestinian man led to the suspension of three additional brigade troops last month.Kohavi also condemned that case, which was the subject of an investigation by the Military Police.
