Ben Gvir backs police after shooting of Bedouin man in Jerusalem

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir gives his backing to police after the fatal shooting of an Arab man in Jerusalem’s Old City in disputed circumstances.

“I back the policemen in Jerusalem,” he writes. “The quick response of the police officers prevented harm to human life and I congratulate and support them.”

Police say 26-year-old Mohammed Elasibi, a resident of the Bedouin town of Hura in southern Israel, grabbed the gun of a police officer and fired it twice before he was shot dead.

Police describe the incident as a “terror attack,” while eyewitnesses and the man’s relatives deny the official account, saying he was shot in cold blood.