Following the police’s third summons of former MK Michael Ben-Ari for interrogation over his tweets, the co-leader of their Otzma Yehudit party, MK Itamar Ben Gvir, on Tuesday held a debate in the Knesset’s Internal Security Committee on the subject of “Police practices of investigating tweets.” Ben-Ari was asked to return to the Knesset in an attempt to defend his good name.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary. In Israel, a country that has no finalized Constitution nor a complementary Bill of Rights, freedom of speech is not a supreme value and police frequently question individuals whose public statements appear “questionable.” Ben-Ari’s public statements have been enough for the Supreme Court to ban him from running for the Knesset while endorsing vehement anti-Israeli candidates such as Hanin Zoabi.
Except that this time, Ben-Ari’s painful testimony about being harassed by the powers that be in Israel over his unabashed patriotism (and quirky sense of humor), Internal Security Committee Chairwoman MK Merav Ben-Ari (Yesh Atid) was touched deeply, and tweeted:
“I’ll probably catch hell here, but I’ll take a risk. I did not know former MK Michael Ben-Ari. I read some articles about him, especially during the election season when he was disqualified from serving in the Knesset. But today I heard his testimony in my committee and it just shook me. I hope the lessons from his experiences will be internalized and learned, no one needs to be treated this way, no matter which side you are on the political map.”
אני כנראה אחטוף פה אבל אקח סיכון.
לא הכרתי את חכל מיכאל בן ארי קראתי קצת כתבות עליו בעיקר בתקופת הבחירות שבה נפסל מלכהן בכנסת אבל היום שמעתי את העדות שלו בועדה שלי והיא פשוט טילטלה אותי
מקווה שהלקחים מהאירוע שלו יופנמו וילמדו, לא צריך להתנהל כך ולא משנה מאיזה צד אתה במפה הפוליטית https://t.co/JeF8tncaxB— מירב בן ארי?Merav Ben Ari (@Meravbenari)
Here’s a haunting sample of Ben-Ari’s anguished testimony on Tuesday:
“I’m not prepared for my good name to be tarnished. It’s part of Holocaust denial, it’s modern Holocaust denial – Ben-Ari is the racist, and Merkel and the Germans are the moral compass.”
"זו הכחשת שואה המודרנית – בן ארי הוא הגזען ומרקל והגרמנים הם המצפן המוסרי". כך תיאר חבר הכנסת לשעבר את היחס לו הוא זוכה מהרשויות במדינה, וסיפר דוגמא ממקרה בו הגיע ללוד במטרה להתריע "מפני הכובש הערבי שמשתולל שם יום יום" pic.twitter.com/DO1rEP4WLh
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT)
Ben-Ari recalled his arrival in Lod a few years ago, with the aim of warning “about the Arab occupier who is raging there every day.”
Ben-Ari added: “I have never harmed Arabs. I respect them, which is why I say they are not loyal to the state. Anyone who says they are loyal to the state is a racist because the Arab nation is loyal to their nationality. This is a political debate that’s being dragged into the judicial arena, I am being blamed over my political opinion.”
Both Merav Ben-Ari and Michael Ben-Ari (not related) have a non-Ashkenazi heritage. Merav’s father came to Israel from Iran and her mother from Libya; Michael’s father came from Afghanistan and his mother from Iran.
But while Michael Ben-Ari, the father of nine children is happily married to his wife Dganit and they live in Karnei Shomron, Merav Ben-Ari is a single mother and lives in Tel Aviv.
They’re both free thinkers, but for the time being, only Michael is being targeted by the police for political harassment.
ושוב שוטרים בפתח הבית:
שתפו, אתם התקשורת!מנדלבליט מוזמן ביום שלישי לוועדת הפנים לתת תשובות על שערוריית חקירות ההטרדה שלי.
אז החצוף, שלח היום חוקרים לזמן אותי לעוד חקירת הטרדה וטקס הקראת ציוצים.
ואני דורש מהארור, תגיש כתב אישום, כדי שנוכל לחקור אותך ואת ניצן על דוכן העדים. pic.twitter.com/YevNlnqkt8— מיכאל בן ארי??? (@drmichaelbenari)