Police chief orders probe into undercover border police who attended bar mitzvah of well-known businessman’s son in uniform

Police chief Danny Levy has ordered a probe into a video that circulated yesterday of undercover Border Police fighters attending the bar mitzvah of a prominent businessman, police say. He has instructed that the probe’s findings be presented to him in the coming days.

The masked fighters were filmed with their weapons drawn as they escorted the son of the businessman Alon Elgali to the front of the crowd, gathered in an outdoor venue in the central moshav of Ahisamakh.

Emceeing the event, singer Lior Narkis, welcomed the bar mitzvah boy and fighters, lauding their presence at the celebration.

The officers are part of the elite Yamas counter-terrorism unit, which operates undercover in the West Bank with fighters often disguising themselves as Arabs in order to reach their targets. Public appearances while in uniform could thus put their operations at risk.

The Border Police comes out with a softer statement than Levy, saying that the fighters “responded to a request from a civilian who asked them to partake in a ceremony for his son, a boy who has shown deep connection to and appreciation for the work of security forces.”

“The officers, with the good intention of bringing joy to the family and community, took part in the event in a limited and good-faith manner,” the statement continued, according to Ynet.

ליאור נרקיס שר תוך כדי שילד הבר מצווה בנו של איש העסקים אלון אלגלי נכנס קבלת פנים ומלווה בלוחמי מג״ב מג״בניקים במדי צה״ל ועם נשקים שלופים pic.twitter.com/TszEHXMnjG

— סרטוני תגובה בעברית (@hebreacvids) July 17, 2025

Nevertheless, the Border Police vowed to enforce the unit’s guidelines regarding participation in public events “to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, 45-year-old Elgali has been known to extensively donate to IDF soldiers and Border Police officers, as well as host them in his home, according to Hebrew media.

Elgali owns the excavation company Meshek Afar Limited, which the IDF has contracted over the course of the Gaza war to dig up Hamas tunnels.

While on reserve duty last year in Gaza, the businessman came under fire from international pro-Palestine activists for appearing in a video filmed against the backdrop of rubble in Rafah, in which a fellow soldier claimed his company would tear down a mosque in the area the next day.