Deri Accuses Ben Gvir of Lying Over Police Violence at Highway 4 Protest

A public uproar over the blocking of Route 4 and footage showing stun grenades fired at protesters triggered a sharp confrontation Wednesday morning between National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Shas leader Aryeh Deri. The exchange exposed a deeper rift in the coalition over responsibility for police violence and over Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Ben Gvir opened the attack by tying law enforcement conduct to the legal system and blaming his coalition partners from Shas. “I demanded that the attorney general be fired, the one persecuting the ultra-Orthodox,” he said. “But you and your friends protected her because you thought you were smarter than everyone else.”

Deri hit back in unusually blunt terms, rejecting Ben Gvir’s claim that Shas had blocked Baharav-Miara’s removal. “Itamar, a lie repeated again and again does not become the truth. It remains a lie,” Deri said. He added that “we supported firing the anarchist attorney general from day one, demanded her dismissal, and all members of Shas signed the demand.”

Deri then shifted the blame for the violence at the protest to Ben Gvir’s own authority over the police. “Why the evasion with Miara? She has already been fired for a year. You are the minister responsible for the police, and you bear responsibility. The one who used severe violence this morning was not the attorney general, but the police officers subordinate to you.”