Ben Gvir accused of electioneering after boasting about police shut-down of party for released Arab man

Police on Saturday night raided a celebration in the southern Bedouin town of Hura for Adam Abu Shareb, a newly released local man who was jailed on security charges for throwing stones at a bus in early 2023, when he was a minor, his family says, accusing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of “electioneering.”

Abu Shareb, 21, was released over the weekend, police confirm to The Times of Israel. Police say in a statement that guests failed to comply with officers’ orders to clear out, and the officers responded by using “dispersal means” to end the gathering.

Officers shut down the party “to prevent the celebration and preserve public order” after receiving information about “an intention to hold a party in honor of a released security prisoner,” police say.

Hura local council head Habes al-Atawneh, who was at the event, tells Bedouin news outlet Yom al-Badya that the community customarily holds celebrations for prisoners who have finished serving out their sentence.

Speaking with Yom al-Badya, Abu Shareb’s relative Musa accuses police of having raided the event, apparently “on higher orders,” after the celebration was moved on their own orders from the grounds of a nearby school to near the family’s homes.

According to Musa Abu Shareb, police fired tear gas at the crowd over the course of ten minutes as a drone flew overhead, filming.

“There was no reason for them to shower us with tear gas… and take the pictures that Ben Gvir used in his tweet,” Musa Abu Shareb says.

The minister yesterday posted on X a picture of a masked police officer and K-9 dog amid abandoned tables and chairs.

The guests had forgotten that “the national security minister is Itamar Ben Gvir,” he wrote, touting the raid as a show of his policy of “sovereignty.”

השולחנות באולם בחורה כבר היו ערוכים בכל טוב, האורחים היו בדרכם לחגיגה, וכולם התכוננו לחגוג לאסיר שהשתחרר.

רק שני פרטים קטנים הם שכחו:

״חתן השמחה״ הוא אסיר ביטחוני שיידה בעבר אבנים לעבר כלי רכב בכביש 31 – והשר לביטחון לאומי הוא איתמר בן גביר.

תוך זמן קצר מקבלת המידע, שוטרי תחנת… pic.twitter.com/NC8jRb8VGv

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 4, 2026

The minister has previously touted police action against celebrations in the Arab community ahead of the October 27 election.

In August, Ben Gvir published footage of a Bedouin bride and groom being led into a police station after their wedding convoy allegedly caused a traffic jam on a southern Israel highway.

Last month, police sources quoted by the Kan public broadcaster said there is “immense pressure to produce images of arrests at Arab weddings — images that later reach Minister Ben Gvir’s social media. The pressure sometimes leads to false arrests.”