Senior officers in Israel’s Coastal District said they would not allow Pride marchers in Haifa to enter with shirts criticizing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, even though police chief Yaakov Shabtai recently said such incidents were handled as isolated cases and would not recur. The dispute was exposed in recordings from police preparations for the march, scheduled for Thursday afternoon on Mount Carmel in Haifa.
During meetings with LGBT community representatives, officers said that shirts with messages against Ben Gvir would be treated as incitement and barred at the entrance. They also said they would not allow flags in watermelon colors, which could evoke Palestinian flags. One senior officer, Deputy Supt. Boaz Samocha, said, “We will not allow shirts against the minister, that will not pass here. Do not mix joy with joy.”
In a separate phone call recorded by the outlet, an officer from the district repeated that signs and shirts of this kind would be considered incitement if they called to harm a person because he is a minister. When the community representative said some participants feared repeating past incidents, the officer replied that there should be no concern, but added that a shirt reading “f*** Otzma Yehudit from every direction” would also count as incitement.
The police response came two weeks after a woman was stopped from entering the Tel Aviv Pride parade because she wore a shirt denouncing Ben Gvir. Shabtai later apologized and said it was a one-off incident, but the Haifa recordings suggest the message is not being implemented on the ground. District commander Maj. Gen. Yechiel Bohadana said the field officers had erred, stressing that Israel Police policy is set by the commissioner and must follow the law and court rulings while protecting both free expression and public order.
