Ben-Gvir's Mother's 1996 Letter to Rabbi Porat About Restrictive Orders Revealed

A letter written in 1996 by Shoshana Ben-Gvir, the late mother of Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to then-Member of Knesset Rabbi Chanan Porat has recently come to light. In the letter, Shoshana Ben-Gvir appealed to Rabbi Porat to intervene regarding administrative restrictive orders imposed on her 19-year-old son, Itamar.

She described how these orders severely impacted Itamar's daily life and livelihood, stating he was "confined to his apartment." The restrictions prevented him from studying, meeting people, giving lectures, and traveling for necessities. She highlighted specific limitations, including restrictions on his residence in Kiryat Arba and his expulsion from Jerusalem. Shoshana Ben-Gvir also recounted an instance where her son was denied permission to attend his grandmother's memorial service, questioning the humanity of such a denial.

In response to the mother's plea, Rabbi Porat wrote to the then-Commander of the Home Front Command, Shmuel Arad. While not disputing the necessity of restrictive orders in principle, Porat criticized their application in Ben-Gvir's case. He suggested that Ben-Gvir might have been better off in prison, where prisoners' requests for temporary leave for family events are considered. Porat noted that a representative of the commander, Lt. Col. Yigal Rom, had rejected Ben-Gvir's requests for basic needs like buying clothes, getting new glasses, and attending the memorial service.

Rabbi Porat urged the commander to re-examine the implementation of the order, stating, "I do not question the need for a restrictive order in certain cases. However, the manner in which the order is being implemented deserves, in my opinion, a renewed examination."