At road rage victim’s funeral, Ben Gvir hints police weakness part of the problem

Among hundreds attending a funeral for Yuri Volkov, killed last week by a motorbike driver during a dispute in a Holon crosswalk, is far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, who is set to become police minister when a new government is sworn in.

Ben Gvir, who campaigned partially on a law and order platform, says “the violence, vandalism, bullying that injured you injured us all.”

Mourners at the funeral of Yuri Volkov at the Holon cemetery on November 27, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Volkov was stabbed to death on Wednesday evening after a brief confrontation with a motorbike driver who carried out an illegal maneuver, endangering pedestrians crossing a road.

Ben Gvir says he attended the funeral to tell Volkov’s family that “with God’s help, when I become [national security minister] I will do everything to make this violence stop.”

He blames the violence on poor education, Israel’s “driving culture” and the police, “who need to be a very strong police force, acting against these damned [people].”