Far-right activist with criminal past is serving as an aide to Ben Gvir — report
Osher Gabbay, who has been convicted of assaulting and threating Palestinians, has accompanied minister to blast sites and prison security wings despite lack of security clearance
A far-right activist with a history of convictions for violence and threats against Palestinians has recently been seen accompanying National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir
Osher Gabbay, 28, of Jerusalem, has been working as Ben Gvir’s assistant for months now, according to a Thursday report in Haaretz, which said he has been privy to sensitive information despite lacking a security clearance.
So far, Gabbay has accompanied the ultranationalist minister to the site of an Iranian missile impact in Beersheba, where Ben Gvir received a briefing from Southern District police. He has also been to the security wings in Ofer and Gilboa prisons.
In 2017, Gabbay was convicted of assaulting a Palestinian following a terrorist attack in Jerusalem two years earlier. Recounting the incident (Hebrew), he told Ynet’s local Bat Yam edition that he “went crazy” and began attacking random Arabs on the street.
“I saw a group of Arabs and shouted, ‘terrorists’… I kicked one of them until he fell and hit him with an iron bar… I did this out of the difficult sights that I saw on the streets,” he recounted.
After beating the man, he left the area only to glimpse a group of Arab women driving in a car. “They had a Palestine necklace. I took a rock and shattered their car windows,” he added.
He was convicted in the Jerusalem District Court and sentenced to four months of community service.
Despite his claim in the article to have reformed himself, Gabbay continued to take part in clashes in the city. He was arrested in 2020 on suspicion of throwing stones at police officers, but was not indicted on any charges.
Three years later, he was charged in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for making threats against a Palestinian from East Jerusalem. He pleaded guilty, was convicted and sentenced to three months in prison.
He has also partaken in clashes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in which he was arrested on suspicion of assault after he forcibly snatched a Palestinian flag from a demonstrator.
Gabbay was also photographed holding a megaphone during a right-wing protest at the Beit Lid military base. He and others were protesting against the now-voided probe and prosecution of reservists accused of abusing a Gazan detainee. The demonstration later led to a break-in by some of the protesters.
In the report, Haaretz claimed that since the start of the current war with Iran, Gabbay has shared information about Iranian missile launches to WhatsApp news groups he contributes to, including specifics about the estimated number of missiles launched in a given volley and the locations of direct strikes.
Responding to an inquiry from the newspaper, Gabbay rejected the charge, insisting that he is merely an assistant employed by Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, without any access to classified or security-related information.
Before entering politics, Ben Gvir was a far-right activist and had himself been convicted on a series of offenses, including convictions for incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization, as well as on charges of disturbing the peace and interfering with a police officer while performing his duty.