Ben Gvir orders arrest of Arab Israeli McDonald’s employee who accosted soldiers

Video shows employee throwing things at two soldiers, witness says he got irate after the soldiers started filming him; Ben Gvir says police arrested man on his orders

Screenshots of the footage of the alleged altercation between an employee and IDF soldiers at the Ramat Gan McDonald's, December 31, 2024. (Screenshots from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Screenshots of the footage of the alleged altercation between an employee and IDF soldiers at the Ramat Gan McDonald's, December 31, 2024. (Screenshots from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ordered the arrest of an 18-year-old Arab Israeli McDonald’s employee after he was filmed in an altercation with two uniformed soldiers at a Ramat Gan branch of the fast food giant.

The man was filmed throwing ketchup packets and cursing at a pair of female soldiers, and allegedly threatened them with the handle of a mop. The footage was widely shared on social media.

According to multiple Hebrew media reports, the soldiers said that they approached the employee to ask about the status of their order, which was taking unusually long. The soldiers said that they were ignored completely because they were in uniform, and that once the employee saw he was being filmed, he began verbally accosting the soldiers and threatened to attack them.

A witness told the Ynet news site that the McDonald’s was unusually busy, and that the employees were under pressure to prepare the “many orders waiting in line.”

The witness said that “the customers began to comment on the delay, then two female soldiers took out their phones and began filming the employees and the line. The employee then got angry because they were filming him, and began to confront the customers and scream at them.”

Ben Gvir said he ordered police to arrest the employee.

“Congratulations to the Israel Police who acted according to my policy,” and that after the “disturbing documentation was sent to me, I immediately sent it to [the police] for investigation,” Ben Gvir said.

Police then arrived at the location and arrested the man, who is a resident of the town of Ma’ale Iron, near Haifa.

According to Ynet, the employee was released to house arrest after several hours of questioning, and told to stay away from the Ramat Gan branch for 10 days.

Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset on November 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Michal Sela, the executive director of Givat Haviva – the Center for Shared Society, an Arab-Jewish NGO, called on police to “release the employee immediately,” and urged that Ben Gvir “devote his time and energy to eradicating the violence raging in the streets, and to stop agitating and inciting hatred just to advance his political needs.”

McDonald’s of Israel released a statement after the incident, saying: “We have a zero-tolerance policy toward violence of any kind. We investigated the incident immediately and it will be handled on a disciplinary level, as is customary. We apologize to our customers for the incident.”

The incident in Ramat Gan was not the only violent altercation that occurred at an Israeli McDonald’s branch recently.

Last week, a brawl broke out between employees and customers at the McDonalds branch inside a Rehovot mall. Video footage of the incident shows several people exchanging blows and even throwing chairs, reportedly following an argument between an employee and a customer.

Police said that no arrests were made in connection to the brawl in Rehovot.

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