Far-right lawmakers head to Sde Teiman detention center to protest detention of soldiers suspected of abuse
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Members of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party announce that they are on their way to the Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel to protest the detention of IDF soldiers suspected of mistreating prisoners.
“Ministers and members of Knesset from the Otzma Yehudit faction are now making their way to Sde Teiman, with a demand to stop the disgraceful arrest of IDF soldiers there,” the party says in a statement.
A heated argument erupted between soldiers at the controversial facility after Military Police investigators arrived to detain suspects for questioning.
ראשוני: התנכלויות ומעצרים מצד המשטרה הצבאית נגד לוחמי צה"ל (כוח 100) ששומרים על מחבלי הנוחבה בשדה תימן.
ככל הנראה פצ"רית הנוחבות עוד פעם דואגת לזכויות החמאס ופוגעת בלוחמי צה"ל. pic.twitter.com/Q7ClS1HTgb— תורת לחימה (@Torat_IDF) July 29, 2024
The Military Police officers sought to detain soldiers who were guarding terrorists from the Gaza Strip, as part of an investigation into an incident of suspected “serious abuse of a detainee.”
“The spectacle of military police officers coming to arrest our best heroes at Sde Teiman is nothing less than shameful,” says Ben Gvir, whose ministry controls the Israel Police and Israel Prison Service.
“I recommend that the defense minister, the [IDF] chief of staff and the army authorities back the fighters and learn from the prison service,” he declares. “The summer camps and patience for the terrorists are over. Fighters should get full backing.”
