Ben Gvir touts arrest of motorcyclist waving Ra’am party flag on highway and ‘frightening residents’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posts a picture of a bound motorcyclist on the ground who the minister claims was part of a convoy that was “driving illegally” in the Negev with flags of the Arab party Ra’am, “frightening Negev residents” and “calling up the scenes of October 7.”

“You must have seen the footage of the motorcyclists who drove on Negev roads with green flags of the Islamist movement Ra’am,” Ben Gvir writes on X, without specifying what was illegal about the motorcyclists’ driving.

“They forgot one little detail: The national security minister is Itamar Ben Gvir, and the policy has changed,” he says, adding that police forces “shut down their ‘party,’ took action, made arrests, handed out citations and sent a message — next time, be very careful.”

בטח ראיתם את התיעוד של האופנוענים שנסעו בכבישי הנגב עם דגלים ירוקים של התנועה האיסלאמית רע״מ, נוסעים בניגוד לחוק, מבהילים את תושבי הנגב, ולרגע התמונות הזכירו את מראות ה-7.10 בכבישי הנגב.

אז זהו, שהם שכחו רק פרט אחד קטן: השר לביטחון לאומי הוא איתמר בן גביר, והמדיניות השתנתה.… pic.twitter.com/BQqGLs2LYS

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 7, 2026

Police don’t respond to a request for comment, including on how many people were arrested and what crime they are suspected of. Ra’am does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ben Gvir posted the picture hours after extremist former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, who is running in the October 27 election with Ben Gvir’s erstwhile ally Bezalel Smotrich, shared footage of motorcyclists driving on a highway and waving the Ra’am flag as Arabic music plays.

“The gall” of the Ra’am supporters to wave their party’s flag was “the result of spinelessness, institutional fear and complete loss of righteousness,” Feiglin said, undercutting Ben Gvir’s claim to have restored Israeli “sovereignty” to the Negev

Ra’am’s “aim is the same aim, ideology the same ideology and flag the same flag” as Hamas, Feiglin claims, days after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against a motion to disqualify the party over purported support for armed struggle against Israel.

חרפה שאין לה מחילה. טירוף מערכות מוחלט.
יהודים נוסעים בכביש בנגב, רועדים מאימה בתוך הרכבים שלהם, בטוחים לחלוטין שהנוח'בה שוב פושטת על הדרום.
שיירות של אופנועים מנופפות בדגלים אסלאמיים ירוקים, מפגינות אדונות וכוחניות בלב כבישי ישראל, והאזרח היהודי – בארצו שלו! – נאלץ לבלוע את… pic.twitter.com/NhT5Z2Sc4L

— משה פייגלין Moshe Feiglin (@moshefeiglin) October 7, 2026

Ra’am is historically affiliated with the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and has a green flag emblazoned with the party’s name in Arabic, though its party chief, Mansour Abbas, has vowed to sever its ties with the Islamic Movement.