Police said to stage fake raid during Ben Gvir tour in mixed city; force denies claim
Haaretz reports that supposed criminals who appear detained in video shared by minister were freed after the fact, following ‘governance tour’ of Arab neighborhoods in Ramle, Lod
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
While touring Lod and Ramle alongside police officers Wednesday night, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was filmed alongside several alleged criminals who appeared to have been detained in an operation. However, Haaretz reported that it is doubtful that any of those pictured were actually arrested.
The far-right minister visited the two mixed Jewish-Arab cities in central Israel in what he called a “governance tour” with officers and Border Police fighters as they carried out crime enforcement operations in Arab neighborhoods.
He was accompanied by Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni and outgoing Lod station commander Kobi Yagen during part of his visit.
Outside a home in Lod’s Rakevet neighborhood, Ben Gvir walked alongside Yagen, who told the minister that police had just raided the building, which belongs to the Abu Zkika family.
Ben Gvir was then filmed walking between men lying on the ground, face down with their hands covering their heads — giving the impression that officers had arrested them.
Speaking to the camera, the minister said the police’s Yamam unit employed “large forces and work in order to defeat this phenomenon of shootings and weapons.”
However, Haaretz reported that the men pictured on the ground were not actually detained criminals. They were supposedly set free after Ben Gvir left, with the exception of one person, who was detained for questioning in relation to a different case, then released afterwards.
בסיור משילות בשיתוף ימ"מ, משטרה ומג"ב בשכונת ג'וואריש ברמלה ושכונת הרכבת בלוד???????? pic.twitter.com/mp1iQckAoO
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) November 12, 2025
Two police sources who spoke to the outlet say that no suspicious items were found in the compound, with one of the sources claiming that the operation was “all one big show in the minister’s honor.”
“The situation in the Central District is very difficult and it is important to act against the targets, but in this case they put on an exaggerated show for the minister. Do you think anyone there can say no to him?” the source told the outlet.
Police rejected the Haaretz report as “baseless.” Responding to the outlet, police said the operation was “carried out in accordance with the law and on a judicial order, to thwart violent crime on the Arab street as [is done] every day, and not as a spectacle as is claimed.”
The report noted that there have been 70 homicides since the start of 2025, as compared to 56 over the course of 2024.
Lod and Ramle are both cities known to have a particularly high rate of violent crime, especially in Arab neighborhoods, where crime families exercise vast influence over residents’ lives.
Later on, Ben Gvir was seen entering the living room in the home of the apparent crime family alongside police officers, where a mother and three children were sitting on the couch. On the wall were two TV screens, one broadcasting Al Jazeera and the other with CCTV footage.
“The home of a crime family,” the minister said to the camera. In a later clip, he said: “This is sovereignty, and even in houses of crime families like this, they understand who the landlord is.”
The Times of Israel Community.