From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Probe of far-right MK Fogel on charges of incitement closed by prosecutors
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Government prosecutors have closed an investigation into a far-right lawmaker accused of incitement after he appeared to back extremist settlers who torched Palestinian homes and vehicles in the West Bank.
Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel was informed of the development today, more than a year after police opened a probe into his statement that he wanted to see a “closed, burnt Huwara.” He made his statement after rioters rampaged through the town in response to the killing of two Israeli brothers in a terror attack there.
“That’s the only way to achieve deterrence. After a murder like yesterday’s, we need burning villages when the IDF doesn’t act,” Fogel told Galey Israel Radio at the time, later claiming that his words were “distorted” and that he was calling on the military to act, not private citizens.
In response, Fogel tweets that “after 14 months of an unnecessary and baseless investigation, they closed the Huwara investigation of me. The investigation of October 7 I won’t close for you!”
Far-right National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir welcomes the news, calling it a “political investigation for all intents and purposes and an attempt to hold him by the throat and threaten him.”
While the investigation into Fogel is now closed, a probe into fellow Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Almog Cohen, who is accused of using violence against a civilian during his service in the Israel Police, is still ongoing.
