Three Palestinians charged with plotting to kill far-right minister Ben Gvir, son
Key suspect accused of trying to obtain weapons, scouting out politician’s movements and security detail, considered trying to kill him during visit to scene of terror attack
Three Palestinian residents of Hebron were charged Thursday in an alleged plot to kill National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his son, authorities said Thursday.
The prime suspect in the case, Ismail Ibrahim Avadi, was accused of surveilling Ben Gvir and his son Shoval Ben Gvir, 18, with the intention of killing them, after setting up a terror cell, police and the Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement.
It marked the third time security forces have foiled an assassination plot against the minister, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit party and lives in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, which abuts Hebron.
Like his hardline nationalist father, the younger Ben Gvir has in recent years carved out a presence for himself online by brashly trolling politicians and others from the opposite side of the political spectrum.
An indictment was filed against Avadi and two others earlier this week at a West Bank military court, authorities announced Thursday. The charge sheet was not immediately available to review and authorities did not name the other two suspects.
According to the joint statement, the indictment alleged that in June, Avadi made contact with “various entities with the goal of establishing a military cell, to obtain weapons and make explosive devices with the aim of harming security forces personnel.”
While trying to raise the needed funds and secure training for the cell he set up, Avadi allegedly approached both the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups seeking support.
One plan Avadi allegedly considered was assassinating Ben Gvir when he visited the site of a terror attack, as the minister often does.
הבנתי pic.twitter.com/TFAS0ejitI
— שובאל בן גביר (@shuvaelbengvirc) November 16, 2024
To prepare, Avadi is accused of learning the routes and vehicles the Ben Gvirs used, as well as the number of security guards they have.
Ben Gvir thanked police for thwarting the would-be assassins, saying in a statement that “thanks to the brave work [of police] and the grace of God again the enemy was prevented from harming me and my family.”
The minister vowed to continue his policies and said that “no terrorist will deter me.”
Moshe Pinchi, who heads the police’s West Bank District, described the thwarting of the plan as a “significant achievement” in what he called a “most serious affair that demonstrates the tremendous efforts by the country’s enemies to carry out terror attacks in Israel, to harm a senior minister and his son, security forces, and other figures.”
In April, the Shin Bet said it foiled another assassination plot against Ben Gvir involving seven Arab Israelis and four West Bank Palestinians.
In 2022, the Shin Bet uncovered a plot by a Hamas terror cell in East Jerusalem to assassinate Ben Gvir, who at the time was an opposition MK in the Knesset.
