Ben Gvir upends meeting of Knesset women’s rights committee, says it ‘harmed police’

Surprise appearance follows weeks of boycott, as opposition lawmakers petition court over minister’s refusal to cooperate with the committee amid spike in murders of women

By Ariela Karmel

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31 December 2025, 5:42 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir storms out of a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality on December 31, 2025. (Screenshot/X)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality of “harming police officers,” as he made a rare and unexpected appearance at a committee meeting on victims of sexual violence on Wednesday.

The far-right minister said that he was attending the meeting “for one reason: because you have hurt our representatives.” The unsubstantiated charges prompted outrage from the committee members, who demanded an explanation.

“I’m giving you a chance — police and [ministry] representatives will attend today, and I’m asking you not to harm them,” he continued, ignoring and speaking over committee members.

Acting committee chair Yesh Atid MK Adi Azuz, an opposition lawmaker, accused Ben Gvir of derailing the session, asking, “Did you come here to provoke or to help? Forty-six women have been murdered since the beginning of the year.”

“You haven’t done what I’ve done in the last three years,” the minister retorted, declining to elaborate.

There has been a sharp surge in femicide cases in Israel, with 32 instances recorded this year, in addition to 12 more women murdered in non-femicide-related cases, according to an annual report published last month by the Israel Observatory on Femicide.

MK Meirav Cohen leads the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality on November 25, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Femicide refers to the intentional murder of women or girls because of their gender.

Despite that spike, Ben Gvir has been boycotting the committee, and committee members have accused him of ordering representatives from his ministry and police not to cooperate with the panel since Cohen was appointed chair last month.

“Finally, he comes because we’re petitioning the courts over the fact that not only does he refuse to cooperate with the committee or participate, but he prevents representatives from his ministry from doing so,” regular chair Meirav Cohen of Yesh Atid said.

She recently submitted a pre-petition warning to the High Court over Ben Gvir’s “illegal instruction” to Israel Police, Prison Service, and National Security Ministry representatives to boycott committee meetings.

“Ben Gvir ran away. Again,” Cohen wrote in a post on X on Wednesday, accusing him as well of “refus[ing] to transfer data to the Knesset on violence against women.”

Addressing Ben Gvir directly, she wrote, “You and representatives of the police and prison service will appear properly before the committee and give an account to the public and its elected officials about the state of violence against women in Israel. Or we’ll meet in court.”