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Gantz rejects Ben Gvir’s ‘cynical, repugnant’ request to visit jailed soldier
Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers of the Yom Kippur War at Mount Herzl, October 6, 2022.(Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90, file)
Defense Minister Benny Gantz rejects a request from Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben Gvir to visit a jailed soldier who is spending 10 days in a military prison for taunting left-wing activists in Hebron.
Gantz tells Ben Gvir his conduct “represents a cynical use of IDF soldiers, in a repugnant manner that harms the military.”
The minister says the military “has sole authority over issues of command and discipline. Any political intervention is utterly wrong.”
Ben Gvir in response says: “It is Gantz who is cynically using soldiers, by forsaking them and creating a vacuum of leadership. A defense minister who backs anarchists instead of his soldiers harms the army.”
