Otzma Yehudit Chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir was documented Tuesday night with a drawn gun aimed at Arab security guards in an underground parking lot in the Tel Aviv exhibition grounds when he arrived to join a celebration with Rabbi Meir Mazuz. The MK said he pulled out his gun because he felt threatened by the guards. He also said police officers he called to the scene detained some of the guards for questioning, but the police stated that no one was detained and that the Arab guards claimed it was Ben-Gvir who threatened them.
חבר הכנסת איתמר בן גביר שולף אקדח לעבר עובדים ערבים בחניון גני התערוכה בתל אביב. הצדדים התעמתו סביב חנייה. בן גביר טוען שהעימות החל בגלל שהם קיללו ואיימו על חייו. בתיעוד נוסף אחד מהם נשמע אומר: “אם אתם גברים תבואו כולכם בלי נשק, אני מזיין אתכם, כולכם פה” pic.twitter.com/eSjFutSyvl
— Ran Shimoni (@ran_shimoni)
Relatives of the security guard who was allegedly attacked by Ben-Gvir said the MK decided to park his vehicle in a forbidden zone, and when security guards approached him and told him he couldn’t park there, things began to heat up. Ben-Gvir told them: “I am a member of the Knesset, I am allowed to park wherever I want.” In the video, a guard and Ben-Gvir two are seen arguing in high tones, exchanging verbal threats and obscenities. Ben-Gvir is seen waving his weapon in the air, and calling out to one of the security guards: “You will not threaten me, here’s the weapon, you will not threaten me.”
MK Ben-Gvir issued a statement saying: “The incident could have ended in murder. When we parked the car the two started cursing. I replied that they should shut up and then they came toward me threateningly while saying, “We will kill you” “We will [expletive] you,” “We will beat you up.” At this point, I felt threatened and pulled out the weapon, I pointed it down, this calmed them for a while. I saw in front of me two Arabs who were supposed to be security guards, with hatred in their eyes, who cursed and threatened to hit me and murder me. I expect the police to investigate the two and file an indictment. They belong in prison. It will be safer for the public.”
The tweet below includes obscenities in Henrew. If you are offended by these, please don’t watch.
הגעתי לחניון בגני התערוכה ושני מאבטחים ערבים ניסו לתקוף אותי. שלומי טוב, המשטרה בדרכה למקום. pic.twitter.com/b03vV0VJeW
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir)
A police source said that testimonies had been collected from both the guards and Ben-Gvir: “We have collected open evidence, including from the Knesset member, and we will move on from there. The guards claim that they felt threatened and that he also shouted and threatened them.”
MK Ben-Gvir, who arrived at the parking lot with Bentzi Gopstein, the founder and director of the Jewish anti-assimilation organization Lehava, also said, “I am the most threatened personality in the State of Israel today, and to my amazement, to this day I have no security from the Knesset.”
Normally, this issue would be taken up by the Knesset Ethics Committee, but the current Knesset doesn’t have one. As the Bible aptly put it close to 3,000 years ago (Judges 21:25): “In those days there was no King in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
Meanwhile, Haaretz reporter Ran Shimoni tweeted that there was another clash between the security guards at the Rabbi Mazuz event. He reported that the guards were not employees of the security firm that was hired for the event, but year-round employees of the Tel Aviv municipality that owns the Exhibition Grounds, who were likely connected to the Guards who clashed with Ben-Gvir.
הנה תיעוד של עימות נוסף בין עובדי חברת האבטחה לבין באי ההילולה. קשה להבין מנקודת המבט הזאת האם מדובר באותם העובדים שהתעמתו עם בן גביר ומה גרם לעימות שמופיע בסרטון כאן pic.twitter.com/045eTtYe5T
— Ran Shimoni (@ran_shimoni)