Ben Gvir interfering in freedom-of-information requests sent to police — report

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is reportedly interfering in responses to Freedom of Information Law requests submitted to the police, in an apparent violation of the law.

According to a report from the Kan public broadcaster, Ben Gvir’s office has been instructing the unit responsible for handling freedom-of-information matters to forward specific requests to his ministry for approval.

Sources speaking to the outlet claim his office demanded to review requests for data regarding Jews detained on the Temple Mount, West Bank enforcement and crime statistics. The far-right minister is a vocal advocate of expanding Jewish prayer rights at the flashpoint holy site and has visited it repeatedly.

Under Israel’s Freedom of Information Law, an officer with the rank of chief superintendent, who is appointed to deal with the matter, should forward freedom of information requests to the relevant bodies upon receiving them, then publish the response once the data has been provided — without any oversight from elected officials.

However, this has reportedly not been the case during Ben Gvir’s term as national security minister. According to the report, he intervened in a September 2024 request regarding Jews detained on the Temple Mount.

The minister apparently asked to be updated regarding the request soon after it was filed. Police, despite receiving data within weeks of the request from the unit that oversees Temple Mount matters, sat with the numbers for four months, the report says.

When the response was finally published in January 2025, it included only partial data, with statistics on restraining orders but none on detentions. There were several other similar cases, according to the sources who spoke to Kan.

Police have not responded to a Times of Israel request for comment regarding the claims.

Responding to Kan, Ben Gvir’s office does not deny that the ministry has requested to be updated on certain freedom of information requests, but insists the policy is in compliance with Israeli law.

“It is within the authority, and even the duty, of the minister’s office to stay updated on the information consistently released under this [freedom of information] framework… in order to improve monitoring of policy indicators, to pinpoint issues important to the public and follow the overall situation,” the ministry replies.