Anti-Zionist Haredi extremists clash with Ben Gvir in Beit Shemesh
Video from the scene shows the minister walking back and forth in the street challenging residents, as police attempt to restrain him
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
At least one person was arrested Thursday after following a violent confrontation between Haredi extremists and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in Beit Shemesh.
According to police, hundreds of “rioters” surrounded Ben Gvir’s car in the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet neighborhood, attempting to damage his vehicle and injuring the minister’s wife, “compelling officers to use force” to repel the attackers.
In a statement, Ben Gvir said that he and his wife, Ayala, came under attack by members of the extreme anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect after they parked in the Haredi neighborhood and called police to report Palestinian flags painted on the side of a building.
The statement did not say what Ben Gvir was doing in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, which has long been known as a hotbed of extremism, with many of its buildings covered with anti-Zionist slogans and demands that women adhere to severe modesty standards.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, one witness to the incident accused Ben Gvir of coming to “create a provocation.”
“In the beginning it was just individuals [yelling at the minister] but because he stayed, more police and more people arrived, and by the end, after an hour and a half, there were hundreds,” the witness stated — adding that while he did not personally see Ayala Ben Gvir attacked, residents did throw eggs and bottles.
Footage from the scene showed the minister walking back and forth in the street, verbally challenging residents as police attempted to restrain him. In the clip, Ayala Ben Gvir, who was filming the entire incident on her smartphone, could be seen attempting to slap a protester.
At one point, police attempted to get Ben Gvir back into his car before the minister slipped past them, running and waving his arms at demonstrators.
According to Ben Gvir’s spokesperson, the extremists screamed anti-enlistment slogans and tried to attack the minister, whom they called a “Zionist” and “murderer,” while Ayala Ben Gvir was “violently attacked by a Neturei Karta activist who slapped her” — prompting the minister to pledge that “the police will enforce the law here too.”
“Ayala defended herself and slapped her back,” the spokesman stated, adding that police used “stun grenades, batons and other means to take control of the extremist Neturei Karta who were waving PLO flags.”
תיעוד בית שמש: המאבטחים נראים מנסים להכניס את בן גביר לרכב, הוא בורח מהם והם רודפים אחריו.
איזה אבו עלי. ילד בן 4 בחיי.
פרובוקטור היה פרובוקטור נשאר. https://t.co/qXWNWLLZQz pic.twitter.com/bOJ7WgasgT— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) May 15, 2025
Ben Gvir’s office called on police to track down and arrest his wife’s alleged attacker.
In a clip he recorded at the scene, Ben Gvir insisted that it was a “shame and a disgrace” that such flags are painted on walls in an Israeli neighborhood and pledged that Beit Shemesh will not become an “extraterritorial” domain outside the bounds of the law.
Additional videos shared by Ben Gvir’s office showed police clapping and residents jeering as the offending graffiti was painted over.
“The Israel Police will continue to work to arrest and bring to justice anyone who disrupts public order, causes property damage and acts violently toward public servants and law enforcement officials,” police said in a statement.
The city of Beit Shemesh, 19 miles west of Jerusalem, has long been known as a religious flashpoint. It rose to national prominence in 2011 when local extremists began harassing and spitting on young national-religious girls attending a school on territory they claimed belonged to the Haredi community.
Video from Beit Shemesh showing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and police covering up Palestinian flag graffiti in the Haredi neighborhood of RBS B pic.twitter.com/igDPU4K146
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) May 15, 2025
In April 2018, then-deputy education minister Meir Porush’s car was mobbed in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet. That same year, a soldier driving through the city crashed into a lamppost after his car was pelted with stones and trash.
While the violence has abated in recent years, it has not disappeared, with extremists recently seeking to forcibly impose their way of life on residents of the city by posting modesty signs, tearing down Israeli flags and burning down a cellphone store.
In August 2023, dozens of extremists rioted outside a local school while then-mayor Aliza Bloch was touring the building. The rioters hurled objects, started a fire and vandalized her car — effectively holding her hostage for nearly two hours until she was rescued by police.
In March this year, extremists attacked Mayor Shmuel Greenberg, a member of the Haredi Degel Hatorah party, and his family outside a family celebration.
One video from the scene showed black-clad Hasidic Jews rocking the mayor’s car back and forth while another showed the mayor, wearing a helmet, being rushed out of a building by armored police as a baying mob chased him amid shouts of “Nazi.” He was then placed in another car and rushed from the scene.
Dramatic footage of Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg being rescued by police from an ultra-Orthodox mob screaming "Nazi" at him this evening. The mayor's car was overturned pic.twitter.com/761DW7K4KF
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) March 19, 2025
“The violent events that occurred today in Ramat Beit Shemesh, in which National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his wife were attacked, once again reveal the complex and daily reality that the Beit Shemesh Municipality and the city’s residents are dealing with,” the city said in a statement.
“These PLO flags were sprayed in the past 24 hours, after the previous ones were removed, at which time the team carrying out the removal was attacked,” it said.
Addressing Ben Gvir, it added: “We welcome the fact that you are coming to see the reality on the ground, but remember: removing graffiti is only a response. The real solution lies in the state treating the root of the problem, through determined enforcement and dealing with extremist elements.”
JTA contributed to this report.
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