Defense Minister Yoav Gallant demanded in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday morning that the latter order an investigation into whether far-right National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir prevented or delayed police reinforcements to the two IDF bases that were overrun on Monday by members and supporters of his party.
The events in question began after military police arrested nine reservists for suspected sodomy of an imprisoned Hamas terrorist. Dozens of protestors against the arrests, accompanied by at least one minister and two Members of Knesset from the coalition, succeeded on Monday afternoon in breaking into the Sde Teiman base near Beersheba, where the arrests had been conducted.
Dozens of protestors later on Monday evening also succeeded in breaching security and entering the Beit Lid base, where the arrested reservists were being held.
“Yesterday’s events caused severe harm to national security and the government’s authority over the IDF,” Gallant wrote. “Backing and active participation of elected officials in riots in IDF bases, while issuing harsh statements against senior IDF officers, is a severe and extremely dangerous phenomenon that harms security, social cohesiveness, and Israel’s international reputation. This dangerous phenomenon must be treated decisively and immediately,” Gallant added.
‘Lack of police presence for long hours’
The minister added that the events “served enemy propaganda against us, which acts to divert attention away from the atrocities the enemy committed against Israeli citizens.”
“The lack of police presence for long hours forced deployment of IDF forces to the area at the expense of operational missions, and forced the chief of staff himself to stop all of his important activities to personally treat an incited mob’s break-in into IDF bases,” Gallant wrote.
גלנט לנתניהו: תפעל ביד קשה נגד חברי קואליציה שהשתתפו במהומות ותבדוק אם בן גביר מנע מהמשטרה לפעול | לכל הפרטים >>> https://t.co/9E2Nu6QWr0@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/ofg1IH95OI
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“I call on you to act with a heavy hand against members of the coalition who participated in the unrest, and order an immediate investigation to examine whether the national security minister prevented or delayed police action to respond to the violent events in which members of his party took part,” the minister concluded.
Earlier on Tuesday, National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz criticized Netanyahu’s silence during Monday night’s events.
“Silence at times of crisis is not leadership and is not responsibility,” Gantz said in a video statement. He added that he had “followed the events overnight with deep concern,” and added that “in order for the IDF to dismantle Hezbollah, we must not dismantle the IDF.”
Gantz called for a new government, arguing that the next government would be one of national consensus, in which “extremists will be distanced from influential positions,” and “leadership will set a personal example.”
“But in the meantime, in the coming days, we must simply calm down. We will back the IDF. We are a strong nation that knows how to overcome everything,” Gantz said.
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