Man booted from High Court hearing after shouting match with Ben Gvir

Disturbances once again break out during a High Court of Justice hearing, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Likud MK Tally Gotliv confronting members of the viewing public in the courtroom.

The two politicians accuse a member of the audience of calling Ben Gvir “a zero,” and approach the man, shouting at him and demanding security guards remove him from the courtroom, which they eventually do.

In a separate incident, a woman began shouting in the courtroom before the proceedings started, denouncing the court for hearing the petition against Ben Gvir’s policy of severely reducing rations for Palestinian security prisoners, filed by the The Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

The security guards agree to allow the woman to stay in court on condition that she not disturb the hearing.

Palestinian prisoners have repeatedly reported receiving severely insufficient food rations, as well as physical and mental abuse at the hands of prison guards and interrogators, after Ben Gvir vowed to crack down on what he described as luxuries for inmates following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Ben Gvir himself denounced the court for taking up the case before the hearing started.

“At a time when Israel’s hostages are in hell, starving, beaten, suffering severely, and eating a quarter of a pita a day, the High Court judges are dealing with the rights of terrorists,” he charged.

Other hearings on hot-button government policies in recent months have also seen heckling and other disturbances from members of the public and elected officials.