National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked outrage after stating that his right to freedom of movement is “more important” than the freedom of movement of Arabs in an interview with N12 on Wednesday evening.
“I think [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant is mistaken with his policy about ‘the fabric of life,'” said Ben-Gvir. “My right, the right of my wife, of my children to move around on the roads in the West Bank is more important than the right to freedom of movement of the Arabs – this is the reality, this is the truth. My right to life precedes [their] right to freedom of movement.”
Ben-Gvir made the comments after being asked about the government’s failure to fight the wave of terrorism and the wave of violent crime, with the minister accusing the former government headed by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett of being “partners” in terrorist attacks.
When asked about why the government is failing to fight crime and terrorism despite the promises he made during the election campaign and the statements he made against the former government, Ben-Gvir stated that the fight against crime takes time and that the police are suffering from a manpower shortage.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gives a press statement on the Friday Ramadan prayers, at the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City. March 24, 2023. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Ben-Gvir says Bennett-Lapid government was ‘partner’ in terrorism
The minister justified his attacks against the former government despite his own failure to fight crime and terrorism now that he is in the government, stating that “the difference between this government and the last government is that they were the partners of the Islamic Movement. The difference is that they were partners in these things, we fight against these things.”
Ben-Gvir called for administrative detentions to be used in the fight against crime in Israel and for the Shin Bet to be used in the fight against crime.
The Kaplan Force protest movement responded to Ben-Gvir’s comments on Wednesday evening, stating “The man who destroys national security speaks in texts that bring to mind the KKK and antisemitic persecutors of Jews all over the world. The one Netanyahu chose as his ‘natural partner’ presents Jewish supremacy in primetime, and the fact that no one in the coalition renounces his blatant racism shows how much this coalition is made up of rags of Netanyahu.”
N12 analyst Mohammad Magadli shared a clip of Ben-Gvir’s interview on X, with Ben-Gvir responding “yes Mohammed, I know you have a hard time hiding your empathy for terrorism, but I have no intention of apologizing to you: the right of the settlers to live and not to be murdered outweighs the right of movement of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria.”
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