Gantz to AG: Don’t let Ben Gvir enter police command center during demonstrations

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir seen at the entrance to the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, March 9, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir seen at the entrance to the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, March 9, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Opposition party leader MK Benny Gantz petitions the attorney general to prevent National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entering police command center during today’s demonstrations, saying that Ben Gvir gives inappropriate commands.

“Minister Ben Gvir calls the demonstrators ‘anarchists’ and gives orders to police commanders in an illicit manner,” Gantz writes in his petition, asking Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to also block the police minister from any involvement in the demonstrations and from giving instructions to police brass.

Ben Gvir has pledged that action will be taken against protesters who block roads, as is again expected during today’s protests.

Last week, the police used water cannons and stun grenades against Tel Aviv protesters for the first time in this series of anti-judicial overhaul protests, injuring 11.

Last Wednesday, Ben Gvir visited the Tel Aviv police headquarters, ahead of the planned “day of disruption” organized by anti-overhaul activist groups. Critics alleged his presence influenced policing decisions.

Gantz also charges Ben Gvir with making “political use of the Israel Police and its facilities.”

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