Member of the Israeli Knesset Itamar Ben-Gvir brandished a loaded gun in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Thursday, urging Jewish settlers to shoot Palestinians, the Middle East Monitor reported.
“We’re the landlords here, remember that, I am your landlord,” Ben Gvir reportedly said, adding:
“If [Palestinians] throw stones, shoot them.”
On Wednesday night, Ben-Gvir threatened to “mow down” a group of Palestinians during a visit to the same area amid a rise in settler violence against local communities.
הערב בשמעון הצדיק – מחבלים ערבים זורקים אבנים ומסכנים את חיי ואת חיי התושבים כאן והשוטרים מפחדים לירות. הממשלה הזו כובלת את ידי השוטרים ומסכנת אותם ואת אזרחי המדינה, ואנחנו פה כדי להגן עליהם. דם יהודי אינו הפקר.
צילום:זושא לוסטיג. pic.twitter.com/hAeWDSMbDf— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 13, 2022
Ben-Gvir later defended his provocative behavior. “The politicians are tying the hands of our cops,” he said in a tweet that included a picture of him with the pistol. “It cannot be that Arabs throw stones next to cops and the cops don’t respond with fire.”
Though described as a far-right extremist, Ben-Gvir represents a dominant current within Zionism. His influence and that of the racist ideology of Kahanism, which he subscribes to, has been mainstreamed in Israeli society.
(MEMO, PC, SOCIAL)
