Ben Gvir touts arrests of Ra’am biker convoy, claims scenes reminiscent of Oct. 7

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Wednesday posted a picture of a bound motorcyclist on the ground, whom the minister claimed was part of an illegal convoy carrying flags of the Islamist Ra’am party, and recalled scenes of the October 7, 2023, massacre.

Videos of the convoy, which took place on the third anniversary of the assault, showed apparent supporters of the party driving with its green banners along a road in the Negev, which some observers online compared to the Hamas terror group’s banner.

Ben Gvir claimed the convoy was “driving illegally,” “frightening Negev residents” and “calling up the scenes of October 7.”

“You must have seen the footage of the motorcyclists who drove on Negev roads with green flags of the Islamist movement Ra’am,” Ben Gvir wrote on X, without specifying what was illegal about the motorcyclists’ driving.

“They forgot one little detail: The national security minister is Itamar Ben Gvir, and the policy has changed,” he said, adding that police forces “shut down their ‘party,’ took action, made arrests, handed out citations and sent a message — next time, be very careful.”

Police don’t respond to a request for comment, including on how many people were arrested and what crime they are suspected of. Ra’am does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

חרפה שאין לה מחילה. טירוף מערכות מוחלט.
יהודים נוסעים בכביש בנגב, רועדים מאימה בתוך הרכבים שלהם, בטוחים לחלוטין שהנוח'בה שוב פושטת על הדרום.
שיירות של אופנועים מנופפות בדגלים אסלאמיים ירוקים, מפגינות אדונות וכוחניות בלב כבישי ישראל, והאזרח היהודי – בארצו שלו! – נאלץ לבלוע את… pic.twitter.com/NhT5Z2Sc4L

— משה פייגלין Moshe Feiglin (@moshefeiglin) October 7, 2026

בטח ראיתם את התיעוד של האופנוענים שנסעו בכבישי הנגב עם דגלים ירוקים של התנועה האיסלאמית רע״מ, נוסעים בניגוד לחוק, מבהילים את תושבי הנגב, ולרגע התמונות הזכירו את מראות ה-7.10 בכבישי הנגב.

אז זהו, שהם שכחו רק פרט אחד קטן: השר לביטחון לאומי הוא איתמר בן גביר, והמדיניות השתנתה.… pic.twitter.com/BQqGLs2LYS

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 7, 2026

Ben Gvir posted the picture hours after extremist former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, who is running in the October 27 election with Ben Gvir’s erstwhile ally Bezalel Smotrich, shared footage of motorcyclists driving on a highway and waving the Ra’am flag as Arabic music plays.

“The gall” of the Ra’am supporters to wave their party’s flag was “the result of spinelessness, institutional fear and complete loss of righteousness,” Feiglin said, undercutting Ben Gvir’s claim to have restored Israeli “sovereignty” to the Negev

Ra’am’s “aim is the same aim, ideology the same ideology and flag the same flag” as Hamas, Feiglin claims, days after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a motion to disqualify the party over purported support for armed struggle against Israel.

Ra’am is historically affiliated with the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and has a green flag emblazoned with the party’s name in Arabic. The party has recently taken steps to depart from its religious roots and emphasize a civic identity. Leader Mansour Abbas has announced that it would cut ties with its religious governing body, the Islamic Shura Council, and become a broad-based party open to Jewish candidates.

In August, former top police officer Yoav Segalovitz announced he was joining Mansour Abbas’ Islamist Ra’am party, in an unprecedented move for a Jewish politician.

The prospect of a minority government relying on Ra’am’s outside support has become a central theme of the coalition’s campaign, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies accusing top rival Gadi Eisenkot and the other opposition leaders of intending to form a government dependent on Arab parties.

With the exception of The Democrats, which supports Ra’am being part of a future coalition, both opposition and current coalition parties have vowed they would not partner with the Islamist party.

However, Netanyahu himself is widely reported to have courted Abbas while trying to form a government after the 2021 election, before Abbas ultimately joined Naftali Bennett’s and Yair Lapid’s short-lived coalition. Netanyahu denies this, but Abbas insists it was the case, and far-right Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich said he thwarted the alliance.