Rebuking police, Ben Gvir orders probe into celebrations of terror convict’s release

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir orders Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to open a probe into the public celebrations that were held for a Palestinian terror convict released last week, despite a directive to prevent that from happening. It is the first implicit rebuke of police by the new far-right minister, who demanded and received extensive powers over police policy during the recent coalition negotiations.

Karim Younis, the longest-serving prisoner jailed for security-related offenses, was released from Hadarim Prison, north of Tel Aviv, on Thursday after serving 40 years behind bars. Younis, an Arab Israeli, was convicted of terrorism offenses for the murder of an Israeli soldier in 1980. The now 64-year-old was met by hundreds of supporters singing the Palestinian national anthem in his home village of ‘Ara in northern Israel.

Ben Gvir’s office releases a statement saying his instructions to prevent celebration tents from being erected in Younis’s honor were “only partially fulfilled,” with Younis’s family and friends putting up such a tent and Palestinian Authority officials paying visits to honor him.

Ben Gvir subsequently held a phone call with Shabtai and ordered an internal police probe, which will be presented to the minister, his office says.

“The purpose of the probe is to ensure such events do not repeat in the future,” the statement says.

Ben Gvir himself says the events held in Younis’s honor “are celebrations of incitement and explicit support for terrorism, and it’s unacceptable for such events to happen in our home. The State of Israel has no place for terror-supporting celebrations, and I will do everything in my power to prevent them, until we pass a law on death penalty for terrorists.”