Far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday criticized a decision by Israel’s army to sentence a soldier who taunted an activist in the West Bank city of Hebron last week to 10 days in military prison.
On Friday, the soldier was taped confronting an activist and boasting about Ben-Gvir – who is expected to become the Jewish state’s next national security minister.
"Ben-Gvir is going to sort things out in this place,” the Givati Brigade soldier said. “That’s it, you guys have lost… the fun is over.”
“Everything you do is illegal. I am the law,” the soldier added before ordering the activist to step back.
Another soldier from the same unit was also seen tackling and punching an activist. He was immediately suspended from his service after the incident, and the assaulted activist was placed under house arrest.
The following day, Ben-Gvir insinuated that the activists probably provoked the soldiers, prompting their forceful reaction: "I know these leftists who come to Hebron well. They provoke the soldiers, insult them, and often attack them as well."
In response to the prison sentence, Ben-Gvir took to Twitter to condemn the “incorrect” decision and called on the Israeli army to rethink it.
“It cannot be that anarchists curse, spit, and attack our heroic soldiers,” he said. “The warriors respond to these attacks. You can take them aside and reexamine their reaction. But send them to prison for ten days? It is unreasonable, disproportionate, and simply incorrect.”
“Our job is to support our fighters. I call on the army to rethink this punishment. This is a very bad message,” the firebrand politician urged.
Friday's incident was the third in recent weeks involving troops from the Givati Brigade in Hebron. Last week, an Israeli soldier was suspended for insulting a Breaking the Silence activist. Three other soldiers from the brigade were also suspended last month for allegedly assaulting a Palestinian.