State Attorney Amit Aisman asked Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara to launch a criminal investigation against National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir for allegedly inciting violence against the residents of Gaza, Kan News reported on Tuesday evening.
According to the report, the request is intended to satisfy the International Court of Justice at the Hague that Israel is investigating Israeli officials for statements inciting “genocide.”
The State-Attorney and Attorney-General’s Office responded to an inquiry on the matter by stating: “As the State of Israel informed the International Court of Justice in The Hague, all statements on the matter that could amount to a criminal offense are being examined. Contrary to the publication, no decisions were made on the issue by the heads of the law enforcement system.”
The absurd request was condemned even within the state attorney’s office and no one believes that such an investigation would lead to an indictment.
In fact, the request is so outlandish that a Walla reporter even jumped to Ben-Gvir’s defense, first clarifying how much he dislikes Ben-Gvir, saying, ‘there are a thousand reasons to dislike him” and describing him as “one of the most failed ministers in Israel’s history.”
The reporter continued by saying that, “still, the State Attorney’s decision to open an investigation against Ben-Gvir is the kind of folly that is usually read in the stories of the sages of Chelm.”
“It sounds absolutely crazy on the face of it. Let’s start with the obvious: it’s stupid. The few quotes that can be interpreted as ‘incitement to violence against the citizens of Gaza’ by Ben-Gvir are based on leaks from cabinet meetings. For example, it was published on this website that in November 2023, Ben-Gvir argued with the Prime Minister about the concept of ‘non-involved’ and claimed that ‘this old man who runs with a stick to abuse citizens, is he not involved? He is a terrorist! He is indeed involved.’ He later claimed at the same meeting that ‘those who distribute candy and encourage murder are involved, those who came to loot are also involved – terrorists.’ Is this incitement to violence against the residents of Gaza, or more like an opinion – not even that extreme relative to the man – that was heard as part of an entire discussion?”
“Still, ‘inciting violence against the residents of Gaza’ – during a war in Gaza – is far from the worst thing he did during his term in government. In fact, he didn’t say anything more serious than Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz (‘No electrical switch will be flipped, no water break will be opened and no fuel truck will enter Gaza.’) or President Herzog who was quoted in The Hague as saying: ‘The rhetoric that civilians are not involved in the fighting is not true. We will fight until we defeat them.'”
“Ben-Gvir did not incite violence against the citizens of Gaza any more than anyone else who sat in the cabinet at that meeting. Everyone discussed the violent way in which to respond to the violent attack that surprised Israel. Given that no one suggested attacking Gaza with flowers and candy bars, they all incited violence in the same meeting just like Ben-Gvir.”
Ben-Gvir responded to the report by stating: “Unbelievable! The State Attorney is trying to prosecute an Israeli minister for ‘incitement’ against the citizens of an enemy country who danced on the blood of our soldiers in the streets of Gaza on October 7th. Instead of the Shin Bet and the State Attorney carrying out targeted assassinations in Gaza, they are trying to carry out a targeted assassination against a minister in Israel. The attempt will not succeed.”
The report was widely ridiculed on Israeli social media on Wednesday.
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