National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir meets with members of a police unit that is facing internal investigations over violence used against demonstrators at recent anti-government protests.
The meeting comes as the chief of the Tel Aviv police’s Yasam special patrol unit, Yair Hanuna, and four other officers were being questioned by the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) over allegations they used excessive force against protesters opposed to the government’s judicial overhaul.
The far-right minister tells the officers that they have his complete backing and that the “PIID won’t bother them.”
“You are our heroes and on my beat, you will have complete backing,” Ben Gvir says, adding that “while I don’t support violence, from the videos I have seen, the force used against demonstrators was proportional.”
Ben Gvir calls the PIID actions “strange and very grave in my eyes.”
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
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