Gallant calls for investigation of Ben Gvir for inciting rioters at IDF bases

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu investigate whether there were delays in the police response when rioters stormed army bases, angry after the arrest of nine reservists accused of mistreating a Palestinian terrorist.

“Check whether the National Security Minister (Itamar Ben Gvir) prevented or delayed the police response to the violent incidents involving members of his party,” Gallant asked.

Complaints were filed against Religious Zionist MP Zvi Sukkot and Likud MP Nissim Vaturi after they took part in the violent protests at the Sde Teiman base in southern Israel, where the terrorist was being held.

When footage emerged showing military police entering the base and searching for soldiers suspected of torturing the terrorist, Ben Gvir and other politicians joined right-wing activists in condemning the arrests and calling for protests against their detention.

While protesters were being cleared from Sde Teiman, a detention camp where many of the thousands of Palestinian terrorists held in Israel are being held, demonstrators later gathered outside the military police headquarters in Beit Lid, central Israel.

“Last night’s events are a serious blow to the security of the state and the authority of the government exercised by the Israeli military,” Gallant said.

“The support and active participation of elected officials in unrest at IDF bases, accompanied by harsh statements towards senior officers, is a serious and very dangerous phenomenon that harms security, social cohesion and Israel’s image in the eyes of the world. This dangerous phenomenon must be addressed drastically and immediately.”

“The events in which ministers and members of the Knesset participated serve as hostile propaganda against us and are intended to divert attention from the atrocities committed by the enemy against the citizens of Israel,” he added. “The absence of the police for hours made it necessary to withdraw IDF forces at the expense of operational missions, and the Chief of Staff (Herzi Halevi) himself had to postpone all his important obligations in order to personally deal with the incursion of a provoked crowd into the IDF bases.”

In response, Ben Gvir accused the Defense Minister of the October 7 failures and called for an investigation.

“It is time to make changes in the role of the Minister of Defense and appoint a courageous, trustworthy person who is capable of tackling the major challenges Israel is currently facing,” he replied.