Itamar Ben-Gvir is known for his controversial acts, including repeatedly storming the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem [Getty]
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has admitted to replacing Israel’s police leadership with loyalists.
Ben-Gvir said that as well as speaking with Israel’s police commissioner and immediate subordinates, he also interviews station commanders.
“I do comprehensive [background checks]”, he was quoted as saying by Haaretz, adding, “if I see these are people who are implementing my policies – they are appointed. If they don’t implement them – they are not appointed.”
The comments were made to Matzav Haruach, a weekly pamphlet that distributes across synagogues in Israel and popular among the religious right, on Friday.
One of the policies that Ben-Gvir discussed in the pamphlet was the destruction of Palestinian-owned buildings, saying: “A few weeks ago, we razed an entire village. I’m not ashamed of it.”
“My strategy is one of demolition,” he added.
Many demolitions target Israel’s Palestinian Bedouin community in the Negev (Naqab) desert, a policy that has been fought by the community along with help from The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah).
Other policies of Ben-Gvir include the banning of the Islamic call to prayer, called the ‘adhan’, with the minister saying that the call “disturbs” Israelis.
At the same time, Ben-Gvir has been a longtime advocate of Jewish prayer at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, and has regularly stormed the Muslim holy site with Jewish extremists and settlers.
He himself has admitted to praying on the site, an act controversial even within Israel’s Orthodox Jewish community on religious grounds.
Ben-Gvir has also attempted to prevent the entry of international aid into Gaza, however has claimed that he only described policy rather than gave specific orders to Israel’s police.
He is reported to have ordered Israel’s deputy police chief to cease aid security without the knowledge of the police chief, according to Haaretz.
A recent ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court overturned an amendment that would allow Ben-Gvir to set the policy for police investigations in a bid to ensure their political independence, although the ruling leaves the police subordinate to him.
On the ruling, Adalah said that “as long as the police remain legally subordinated to Ben-Gvir, continued racist policing practices are expected to further harm the rule of law and ultimately lead to more loss of life”.
