AG tells Ben Gvir his protest policy is unlawful, invalid; he says she ‘wants to see blood’

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that a policy paper his office authored for how the police should deal with protests is unlawful, invalid, and cannot be acted on by the police.

Writing to Ben Gvir for the fourth time in four months on the issue, the attorney general says that Ben Gvir’s policy proposals constitute “prohibited political interference” in the work of the police; “prohibited interference with the operational discretion of the police ranks”; “unjustified harm to the right to protest and freedom of expression”; and a “violation of the principles” the minister has committed to comply with.

The attorney general writes in her letter that leaving the policy on how to police protests to the discretion of police commanders is a key component of upholding the right to freedom of protest, but asserts that Ben Gvir’s policy paper leaves no room for it.

“The policy document regarding demonstrations is tainted by substantive and procedural flaws that do not allow it to go into effect or to be implemented, and the issue must be re-examined within the limits of the law and case law established on the subject,” the attorney general tells the minister in conclusion.

Ben Gvir denounces Baharav-Miara in response, claiming she is “encouraging anarchy” and that she “wants to see blood,” referencing an incident earlier this month in which Likud MK Eli Dallal fell to the ground and papers were flung at him during a turbulent protest in Kfar Saba earlier this month.

At least four people were arrested over the incident.

“I will not be deterred by the despicable and criminal methods of Baharav-Miara, who has been avoiding a discussion of the policy document I submitted for months, and then claims that the document is not valid because she has not yet responded to it,” says Ben Gvir.

“Much to her regret, the public gave me a mandate — not her. She will not scare me away from doing my job. A public that is experiencing violence in the streets does not have time to wait for Baharav-Miara.”