Rahat mayor angrily confronts Ben Gvir over police raid photo op after city hall nearly bombed

Rahat Mayor Talal Alkernawi says National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir endangered the lives of hundreds of municipal workers by trying to turn a major police raid into a photo op, inadvertently tipping off criminals who seized the opportunity to plant a bomb at city hall.

Alkernawi angrily confronts Ben Gvir hours after an explosive device was found in the city’s municipal complex.

The device is thought to have been left in Rahat’s city hall by criminals who knew a large-scale police operation would take place in the area today, due to the raid being announced to the press ahead of time in order to garner coverage.

According to a Ynet report, police intelligence indicated that the culprits knew beforehand about the operation and sought to send a message to the mayor of the Bedouin city, which has contended with rampant organized crime in recent years.

“500 workers could have been killed today, and this is what matters to you?” he shouts at Ben Gvir, while the far-right minister watches as a makeshift home is demolished by law enforcement. “Our lives don’t matter to you, shame on you. You are a disgrace to the State of Israel. As a citizen who has done more for the country than you, I am ashamed of you.”

A confrontation occurred between Itamar #Ben_Gvir and the mayor of #Rahat in the occupied #Negev, Talal Al-Qarnawi, who accused the Minister of National Security in the occupation government of coming to the area to carry out house demolitions, not to fight crime gangs.@qudsn… pic.twitter.com/wROm7ctfAJ

— ⚡️???? World News ????⚡️ (@ferozwala) May 7, 2025

Over a thousand officers — including police, border cops and National Guard fighters — descended on Rahat today, raiding compounds and businesses, carrying out “targeted economic enforcement” in the city, a spokesman says. Ben Gvir and police chief Danny Levy were on hand to oversee the operation.

Alkernawi tells a Ynet reporter that “the minister, who is supposed to protect our safety, came here to take a photo next to some pitiful shack,” before the interview is cut off by law enforcement.

The police operation seems to focus mostly on financial crime and illegal construction in Rahat and its surrounding area. According to police, 60 vehicles worth approximately NIS 20 million were seized.

Addressing officers today in the Southern District, police chief Danny Levy says the operation is being conducted with the aim of restoring “governance and sovereignty to the State of Israel.”