‘I’m the landlord here’: Ben Gvir tours Bedouin town amid crime wave, sparking anger

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir toured the Negev Bedouin village of Lakiya for a second time this month on Sunday amid a wave of local violence, sparking anger from residents after police blocked the town’s entrance with concrete blocks.

His visit and the roadblocks came on the heels of a new operation by police aimed at combating spiraling criminal activity and arms trafficking among Negev Bedouin, dubbed Operation New Order.

Arab mayors and council heads have repeatedly demanded that the state do more to combat crime in their areas, and many have assigned blame to the far-right Ben Gvir for the surge in homicides since he took office in late 2022.

So far this year, more than 230 Arab citizens have been killed in mostly gang-related shootings and stabbings, more than the toll for all of last year. In recent days, a shooting in the Bedouin city of Rahat left two dead, and reports of heavy gunfire near Jewish towns at the start of the week prompted Ben Gvir to drive south and tour several areas in the Negev.

Arab leaders have lamented being boxed out of decision-making regarding the issue even though it primarily affects their constituencies. On Sunday, heads of Bedouin locales in the Negev said they were incensed after being excluded from an emergency meeting on crime that took place in Beersheba earlier in the day.

“It saddens us that this is the behavior; we expect to cooperate with all the Negev local authorities and for them to also deal with the Bedouin community. We don’t look upon this favorably,” Rahat Mayor Talal al-Kernawi told The Times of Israel. “We’re also in favor of safeguarding governance in the Negev.”

Ben Gvir arrived in Lakiya alongside Southern District police chief Haim Bublil, and footage captured him feuding with Ra’am MK Walid al-Hawashleh.

In the video, Ben Gvir declared that he was the “landlord” in the Arab town, as al-Hawashleh derided him as a racist.

“We will mow down whoever is bad, I’m not afraid of them, I’m the landlord here,” Ben Gvir said, before shouting “barra,” meaning “out” in Arabic, at al-Hawashleh, a taunt he has used frequently when fending off criticism from Arab lawmakers.

“You racist, you haven’t done anything about the murders in Arab society,” al-Hawashleh said, while pursuing the minister as he continued down the street with his entourage. “You’re only making provocations here.”

השר לביטחון לאומי איתמר בן גביר הגיע ללקיה: ״מי שרע נכסח אותו – אני לא מפחד ממכם. אני בעל הבית פה״ pic.twitter.com/JFqzQL0YhJ

— ארנולד נטייב (@ArnoldNataev) November 23, 2025

Later footage from the visit showed dozens of residents jeering the far-right minister as he waved from his car.

The roadblocks police put up on Sunday were part of an operation aimed at blocking the movement of criminals and weapons in the area. However, locals resented the decision, saying it impeded their movements.

Concrete roadblocks have been used by the IDF in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to prevent entry and exit from Palestinian residential areas during times of heightened tension, as well as during some major Jewish holidays.

לא הספקתי מוקדם יותר, אז הנה המשטרה פועלת בהוראת השר בן גביר.

הודעת המשטרה: בטונדות וחסימות משטרתיות הוצבו ביישובים הבדואים לקייה ותל שבע.

מבצע "סדר חדש" בנגב יצא לדרך בסוף השבוע – ביוזמת השר לביטחון לאומי איתמר בן גביר והמפכ"ל דני לוי המשטרה פועלת נגד תופעת הירי וזליגת אמצעי… pic.twitter.com/PkxxA8GQRt

— אלעד הוּמינר ???????? العاد هومينر (@EladHumi) November 23, 2025

Earlier in the day, southwest of Lakiya, Beersheba Mayor Ruvik Danilovich convened a meeting about the wave of violence.

In a Facebook post announcing the meeting, Danilovich called violent crime “civilian terror” and warned that “the next October 7 is at our doorstep,” referring to the 2023 Hamas-led attack that sparked the Gaza war. Also attending were leading local Jewish politicians, including mayors and chiefs of local councils.

The politicians planned to submit a document of principles to the government and security agencies, demanding that the state deal with rising crime.

Absent from the meeting were the nine Arab local council heads in the Negev, even though the violence is concentrated in their jurisdictions.

Speaking of last week’s deadly shooting, which took place amid a dispute between cousins, Rahat’s al-Kernawi said that guns need to be swept from the streets of the city, and lamented the “tremendous amounts” of army-grade weaponry that have fallen into the hands of criminals.

“It’s terrifying, we need governance in this matter to defeat the spread of arms,” he said.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, a small group of demonstrators doused themselves in fake blood outside the police’s national headquarters in protest of law enforcement’s failure to counteract the rash of violence.

While about a dozen protesters lay on the ground covered in red paint, others held a sign calling for authorities to “end the abandonment” of Arab society.