Ministers to mull response to terror attack, as Ben Gvir repeats demand for major op

With the cabinet set to convene Sunday for its weekly meeting two days after a deadly Palestinian terror attack, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has doubled down on his demand for a large-scale military operation in East Jerusalem — despite being rebuked on the matter — and has reportedly demanded a list of demolition warrants from the municipality.

Following the car-ramming attack at a bus stop in Jerusalem, which left three dead, the cabinet and also the high-level security cabinet were expected to weigh a series of new steps aimed at preventing additional attacks.

In an unusual step, the military did not launch airstrikes on the Gaza Strip overnight in reaction to a projectile that was launched from the territory on Saturday, possibly indicating Israel is taking steps to avoid an escalation.

Channel 12 news reported that these could entail seizing money and assets belonging to terror operatives’ families, placing barriers at bus stops in the capital to protect passengers from ramming attacks, combating online incitement, and increasing security checkpoints and patrols between Palestinian and Jewish neighborhoods.

Shortly after the attack, the far-right Ben Gvir released a statement saying he’d told police to gear up for a major anti-terror crackdown starting Sunday, specifically evoking a famous 2002 military campaign against West Bank terror groups. However, Ben Gvir lacks the authority to approve such an operation on his own and his comments were dismissed by a senior government official.

The official told multiple Hebrew media outlets anonymously that “decisions of such a scale are not made in statements by one minister or another on a sidewalk at the scene of an attack.”

The official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would decide on any operation only after conferring with the security establishment and after an orderly discussion in the cabinet.

The official added that there was no intention “to collectively punish the East Jerusalem public” and that any actions would also need to take into account the coming Ramadan holiday and the need to allow freedom of worship in the capital.

Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had been caught by surprise by Ben Gvir’s statements, since they hadn’t been coordinated with them.

The report said Ben Gvir had asked police to impose a lockdown on the Issawiya neighborhood, where the terrorist came from, with Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and other top officers dismissing this demand and saying it was impossible, angering Ben Gvir.

The report said senior government officials have repeatedly branded Ben Gvir’s statements “childish.”

But on Saturday night, Ben Gvir posted a tweet reiterating his initial statement, saying he was “determined” to launch the major operation.

“To the attention of those giving briefings against me, the police have the authority to demolish illegal buildings, to arrest over 150 targets and raid their homes, to stop the incitement at the mosques, to arrest those with tax debts and more,” he said.

“The cabinet meeting is important and I will make more requests there, but governance is very important and I will ensure it is realized,” Ben Gvir added.

Additionally, the Maariv daily reported Sunday morning that Ben Gvir had asked the Jerusalem Municipality to hand him the full list of demolition orders for East Jerusalem homes deemed illegal.

“As of today, the Jerusalem Municipality has over 200 demolition warrants for illegal buildings in the east of the city that nobody has dealt with yet,” the report quoted an unnamed Ben Gvir affiliate as saying. “The minister wants all the warrants in his hands with the goal of starting to enforce them in a comprehensive, large-scale manner, in a way the previous government never enforced.”

A six-year-old boy, his eight-year-old brother and a 20-year-old man were killed and five others were wounded in the car-ramming terror attack Friday at a bus stop near East Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood.

Ben Gvir, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, ran on campaign promises of cracking down on Palestinian attacks and Arab Israeli crime. He has faced criticism from the hard right after several deadly terror attacks in recent weeks, with detractors saying he has so far failed to deliver on his vows to crush terror and introduce punishments of unprecedented severity against attackers and their families, including the death penalty for convicted terrorists.

Arriving at the scene of Friday’s attack, Ben Gvir was met with heckles from several angry bystanders. “The biggest terror attacks were on your watch,” one shouted. Two Fridays ago, seven Israelis were killed in a terror shooting attack near a synagogue in the capital’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood.

Ben Gvir said he had ordered police to set up roadblocks around Issawiya, where the terrorist came from, “and to stop and check each and every car.”