Itamar Ben-Gvir heads Otzma Yehudit, considered by many as succeeding Kahanist movement [Getty]
Israel’s domestic intelligence agency investigating the infiltration of far-right Kahanists into the Israeli police following the intervention of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in police work.
Shin Bet‘s probe investigation looked into Ben-Gvir’s role in changing the status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the Temple Mount, according to Israel’s Channel 12.
The site, revered by both Jews and Muslims, only sees Muslim prayer, with Jews praying at the Western Wall of the second Jewish temple.
However, the longstanding policy has been upended by Ben-Gvir, who has pressured Israeli police to allow Jewish prayer on the mount during the Jewish day of mourning ‘Tisha B’av’.
This included calling on Avshalom Peled, then deputy police commissioner, as well as prison service chief Kobi Yaakobi and his chief of staff Hanamel Dorfman, to pressure Jerusalem District commander Amir Arzani to allow prayer on the site which had initially been refused.
Following the events, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar requested an investigation into the incident on grounds of “the infiltration of Kahanism into law enforcement”, according to Haaretz citing the Channel 12 report.
According to the report, a letter sent to senior Shin Bet officials by Bar read: “We’ve marked the spreading of Kahanism to law enforcement agencies as a dangerous phenomenon, whose prevention is part of the Shin Bet’s purpose. Due to the presence of political officials, this must be done intelligently and cautiously”.
According to the Times of Israel, Bar is referring to a 2002 law that states that Shin Bet is tasked with protecting Israel’s democracy and institutions.
Kahanism is a far-right Jewish ideology espoused by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who headed the ultranationalist Kach movement prior to his assassination in New York in 1990.
The party was banned in 1994 after one of its members, Baruch Goldstein, carried out a mass shooting of 29 Muslim worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit ‘Jewish Power’, which is currently in the coalition government, is considered by many as succeeding the movement, with Ben-Gvir himself having close associations with Kahanist disciple Rabbi Bentzi Gopstein.
Ben-Gvir himself has admitted to installing loyalists to police leadership positions based on whether they are likely to implement his policies.
The release of the report has further deepened a rift between Ronen Bar and Netanyahu’s government, which last week saw the cabinet vote to oust Bar as Shin Bet chief.
Sunday’s cabinet meeting between security officials saw a confrontation between Bar and Ben-Gvir, with Bar denying he had launched an investigation into Ben-Gvir and Ben-Gvir labelling Bar “a lying, criminal Shin Bet chief that needs to be in prison” in comments addressed to Netanyahu, according to Haaretz. Ben-Gvir also accused Bar of “trying to stage a coup” against the government.
In a statement released after the meaning Ben-Gvir’s office called the report “an earthquake”, adding that the report is further reason for Bar to be removed from his post while suggesting the investigation was part of attempts to stage a coup.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s official office issued a statement denied claims within the report that the PM knew about the investigation, calling the claim a “lie”.
“The published document – showing a clear directive from the Shin Bet chief to collect evidence against the political leadership – resembles dark regimes, undermines the foundations of democracy, and aims to bring down a right-wing government,” the statement read.
Netanyahu last Wednesday used similar language, warning that “the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s will”, in a statement made amid reports that the government would oust Israel’s Attorney General, a decision that was approved on Sunday.
Shin Bet itself has issued contradictory statements following the report, first saying that it was Shin Bet’s mandate to investigate Kahanist groups in order to stop their activists, although the agency later clarified that no such probe had been made.
