Yair Netanyahu Blasts National Security Minister Ben Gvir Over Police Conduct

Yair Netanyahu, son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a sharp attack against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Saturday night. He blamed Ben Gvir for the current state of the Israeli police, accusing him of turning the force into an enforcement arm for activist Itamar Kaplan. The criticism came amid disputes over uniting right-wing parties ahead of elections.

Yair Netanyahu argued that the only reason for forming a technical bloc between Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Moshe Feiglin, and Ofer Winter was to avoid wasting right-wing votes on parties unlikely to pass the electoral threshold. He accused Ben Gvir of disregarding the risk that the right-wing bloc might fail to secure a parliamentary majority of 61 seats, and claimed the minister was indifferent to the possibility of a government led by opposition figures like Yair Golan, Gadi Eizenkot, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

He further criticized Ben Gvir personally, stating that under his tenure and that of Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, the police had become "an enforcement arm of Kaplan," implementing apartheid-like policies and persecuting right-wing activists. Yair Netanyahu also accused the police of allowing left-wing protesters to block roads and create chaos while continuing to target right-wing individuals. He claimed the police had covered up the "Petzar case" and fabricated allegations against "Force 100," a right-wing group.

This public rebuke highlights ongoing tensions within the Israeli right-wing camp and growing criticism of law enforcement's role in political conflicts. The dispute over right-wing party unification and police conduct is expected to continue influencing the political landscape ahead of upcoming elections.