Gallant to PM: Check if Ben Gvir curtailed police response to mob assault on IDF bases
Ahead of remand hearing for soldiers suspected of abusing Palestinian detainee, defense minister also demands action against coalition members who took part in riots

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to probe far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, amid an ongoing political tempest over scenes of chaos Monday as right-wing mobs burst into two army bases, outraged over the arrest of soldiers suspected of abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Gallant demanded an inquiry as to whether Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Police, had intervened to prevent or delay the force from acting to stop the riots. He also urged the prime minister to take firm action against coalition members who led protesters at the bases, warning that the incidents were a blow to the country’s security and its international standing.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee also held a closed-door discussion Tuesday on the previous day’s events.
On Monday evening far-right activists broke into the Beit Lid military base in central Israel where soldiers detained on suspicion of abusing a Palestinian detainee from the Gaza war were taken for questioning, hours after a separate base — the Sde Teiman facility in southern Israel — was stormed by a right-wing mob fuming over the arrests. Police did eventually arrive to clear the bases of protesters amid violent scuffles, but no arrests were made.
The anarchic scenes of mass break-ins were fomented by several members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, some of whom took part in the forcible entries. Ben Gvir’s party had announced early on Monday afternoon that its members were headed to protest at the Sde Teiman facility where the soldiers were arrested, and Ben Gvir had declared that “the spectacle of military police officers coming to arrest our best heroes at Sde Teiman is nothing less than shameful.”
The shocking scenes at the two IDF bases were roundly lambasted by the opposition as a breakdown of the rule of law, while pitting members of the coalition against each other as some defended the behavior of protesters while others said the assault on military bases was beyond the pale.

The nine soldiers suspected of abuse were to be brought for a remand hearing at Beit Lid later Tuesday. Police set up blockades a kilometer from the base and deployed in force to prevent a repeat of the rioting the day before that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi described as “bordering on anarchy.”
In his letter, Gallant urged an immediate inquiry to ascertain whether Ben Gvir “prevented or delayed” the police response to the rioting “in which members of his party were participants.”
He noted that the absence of police from the scenes of the riots “for long hours” required diverting IDF resources to the scenes “at the expense of operational duties,” while IDF chief Halevi was forced to pause his own “important business” relating to the war in order to personally deal with the matter.
For elected officials to participate in rioting at army bases is a “most serious and dangerous phenomenon harming security, social cohesion and Israel’s image in the eyes of the world,” Gallant wrote, demanding it be dealt with “immediately and decisively.”
He said such actions also serve anti-Israeli propaganda and divert attention from Hamas.
Ben Gvir responded to Gallant’s missive with his own letter to Netanyahu demanding a probe of Gallant over the devastating October 7 attack on the country led by Palestinian terror group Hamas that set off the ongoing war. He asserted that Gallant’s accusations had “no basis” and demanded to probe if Gallant had known in advance about Hamas’s plans for the October 7 attacks, whether or not he made suitable preparations, and if he had informed the prime minister of what he knew.

The Walla news outlet cited police sources as complaining that the IDF had not informed them in advance of the planned arrests and the need to prepare for possible disturbances at its bases that could come in response, despite being aware that the move would likely infuriate right-wing activists.
In a statement late Monday, police had stressed that “contrary to various publications, the police received no reports about threats from military officials” and that officers who eventually arrived at the bases dealt with the incident swiftly.
“We regret the attempts made to criticize the police and their work,” police said.
Among the lawmakers who participated in the protests were Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party, Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot, and MKs Nissim Vaturi and Tally Gotliv of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.
Eliyahu claimed in an interview with Radio 103FM on Tuesday that his security team had coordinated his arrival with the Sde Timan base commanders and that he had not broken in.
However, he appeared to back those who did force entry into the bases. He tied the incident to the overall far-right gripes against the attorney general and implied the chaos was a direct result of allowing anti-government protests to create chaos in the public sphere during demonstrations since early 2023.

Varturi likewise claimed he had arranged his entry to the base with authorities but also played down the significance of the incidents themselves.
“There is no anarchy here, and I am against [unapproved] entry to bases,” he said in remarks to media at the Knesset, claiming that he assisted in convincing the mob to leave the Sde Teiman base. “All I tried to do was to help with the many people, some of whom were very angry.”
Firebrand MK Gotliv was photographed outside the Beit Lid base addressing protesters, some of whom were masked, appeared armed and were apparently wearing IDF uniforms. Gotliv had encouraged her supporters to mass at the base on behalf of the detained troops. “Come in your multitudes,” she urged, echoing comments from other right-wing politicians who also egged on the riots.
Speaking to Kol Barama Radio Tuesday, Gotliv defended the base invaders.
“I don’t condemn the breach of IDF bases,” she said in remarks quoted by Walla. “No one will determine for us what is right and what is not in protests.”
But, she conceded, “it would have been better if it hadn’t happened.”
המהומה בבית ליד: רעולי פנים חמושים במדים על משאית, לצד ח"כ גוטליבhttps://t.co/G5clWDCVSw
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Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer of Religious Zionism told Army Radio that the riots had no legitimacy and that arrests should be made.
He said the scenes that played out at the bases “looked like a third-world country whose main challenges are internal and not security threats.”
“There are things we cannot allow ourselves to happen. And that is how the bases looked yesterday,” he said. “This must not happen.”

While noting that the Military Advocate General, who had ordered the soldiers’ arrest over suspected abuse, may not have chosen the best timing and manner, the response by the mobs had “zero legitimacy,” Sofer said, adding: “There need to be arrests.”
Head of the extreme right Naom party, Deputy Minister Avi Maoz, gave his backing to the rioters. While he stated in a post to social media platform X that he adamantly opposes breaking into IDF bases, he also celebrated the events unfolding around the country as “a true revolution” by the nationalist bloc to counter anti-government protests.

The investigation into the soldiers was launched after a detained terror suspect was brought from the base to a hospital with signs of serious abuse, including to his anus. He was arrested by the IDF in the Gaza Strip several weeks ago.
Army chief Halevi, who gave full backing to the investigation by Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi and the Military Police into the suspected abuse, later visited troops at Beit Lid, saying what had occurred bordered on anarchy.
“We came to Beit Lid… to make sure that nothing more serious happens. The arrival of rioters and attempts to break into the bases is serious behavior, against the law, bordering on anarchy, harming the IDF, the security of the state and the war effort,” he said.
The army noted that the rioting had been a major distraction from work being done to draw up plans for retaliatory action against Hezbollah in Lebanon following a weekend rocket strike in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said the riots on Monday showed that Netanyahu is “weak” and has lost control over his government, urging him to fire ministers involved in the break-ins.
“All the red lines were crossed today,” he said. “This is not a riot, this is an attempted coup by an armed militia.”
Regularly accused of abuses and other crimes against Palestinians, Israel maintains that such actions are not tolerated and claims to rigorously police its army, though critics claim that few are ever convicted of crimes. Moves to prosecute soldiers for alleged abuses have provoked outrage in the past, with some on the right arguing that troops dealing with complex, often hostile, situations should be granted a measure of immunity.
The escalating feud between Gallant and Ben Gvir comes amid reported sharp divides within the cabinet over how to proceed with the Gaza war. Gallant has publicly urged moving forward with a ceasefire proposal that would see the release of hostages that Hamas abducted to Gaza during its assault, while Ben Gvir and hard-right allies have threatened to topple the government if any deal is advanced that ends the war before Hamas is destroyed.