Ben Gvir’s Jaffa Tour Sparks Political Propaganda Allegations

Attorney Shahar Ben Meir filed a petition to the chair of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Solberg, נגד Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, over the publication of a video from a tour he conducted with the police in Jaffa. In the petition, Ben Meir demanded that Ben Gvir delete the video he posted on his social media accounts. He also asked to bar Ben Gvir from holding any tour involving officials from the Israel Police, with participation by members of the Otzma Yehudit party.

Recently, Solberg accepted left-wing petitions and ruled that photos Ben Gvir uploaded to his social media from tours with senior police officials constituted propaganda and must be removed. In Ben Gvir’s circle, they stressed that, “The video in Jaffa is not political. All ministers in the past joined tours and received briefings from the police. If Solberg has a backbone, he will decide to reject the petition.”

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also expressed support for the petition and tried to link the matter to her demand to dismiss the minister. “The scope of the violations by the minister of national security, in general and especially recently, is particularly extensive, and these are severe violations, which lead to the joining together of the police’s operational activity with political messages and propaganda by the minister and the Otzma Yehudit party.” She also called for severe punishment of Otzma Yehudit over the publication of the videos. “In this situation, the Attorney General’s position is that high costs should be imposed, in order to send a clear message, among other things in light of the understanding that the damages caused by the offending publications cannot be repaired retroactively and given the severity of the violations.”