From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Ben Gvir snaps at IDF chief: ‘I am a cabinet member. We decide’
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National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly snapped at IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi at yesterday’s cabinet meeting over the suspension the army handed down to several soldiers who filmed themselves singing Hanukkah songs over the loudspeaker system in a mosque in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Ben Gvir told Halevi that the punishments harms solders’ morale, according to remarks leaked to Channel 13.
Halevi responded that the soldiers’ actions violated the army’s code of conduct and went against the values of the IDF.
“I am a cabinet member, I am a political rank. We decide,” Ben Gvir shot back.
“You are wrong. I will decide what is or isn’t moral behavior in the army. Don’t threaten me,” Halevi responded.
Several other ministers came to Halevi’s defense, telling Ben Gvir not to speak rudely to the IDF chief of staff.
“Ma’am, don’t tell me what to do,” Ben Gvir told National Unity Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton.
“Don’t call me ma’am,” she quickly replied.
This is far from Ben Gvir’s first cabinet meeting scuffle. He got into it with National Unity Minister Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, last month as well.
The Times of Israel Community.