Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben-Gvir pulled a pistol after he said he felt threatened by two Arab security guards at an event in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.
Video from the scene showed Ben-Gvir shouting at the security guard “you will not threaten me!” while waving the gun around and then pointing it at the ground. “You wanted to beat me? You will not threaten me!” yelled the MK, adding that “if you threaten me, I’ll take care of you.”
Another video showed the security guards telling Ben-Gvir and a number of people with him to drop the weapon and go outside “if they’re men,” with one guard saying “I will f*** you all up.”
Ben-Gvir was summoned by the Knesset security officer for a meeting after the incident went viral.
The incident took place in the parking lot of the Expo Tel Aviv complex.
ח"כ איתמר בן גביר התעמת עם מאבטח ערבי - ושלף אקדח. בן גביר: "קיללו ואיימו לפגוע בי" | תיעוד@ZeevKam @ittaishick pic.twitter.com/Sjwi6nItkl
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 22, 2021
Israel Police denied on Wednesday morning claims by Ben-Gvir that the two guards ran from the scene and were later arrested by police for questioning, saying that it was looking into the incident but that no one had been arrested or questioned as of yet.
The security guards reportedly claimed that they had only asked the MK to move his car, as he had parked in an illegal spot, and that Ben-Gvir had confronted them first.
“The incident could have ended with murder,” the MK stated, claiming that the two began to curse him when he parked in the parking lot. When he told them to be quiet, they began approaching him in a “threatening manner” and threatened to kill and beat him. Ben-Gvir claimed that he pointed the weapon downward, although video from the scene showed him waving it around at least at one point.
“I saw in front of me two Arabs who were supposed to be security guards, with hatred in their eyes, who cursed and threatened to hit me and murder me,” he said. “I expect the police to investigate the two and file an indictment. Their being put in prison will make it safer for the public.”
The Meretz Party expressed outrage at the Otzma leader’s behavior during the incident: “The Kahanist Ben-Gvir was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization. Today, under the cover of immunity as an MK, he calls for the murder of Arab citizens and threatens them with firearms.
פעם הוא נופף בסמל של האוטו של רבין. היום הוא כבר מנופף באקדח.הכהניסט בן גביר הורשע בתמיכה בארגון טרור. היום תחת מעטה החסינות של חבר כנסת הוא קורא לרצח אזרחים ערבים ומאיים עליהם בנשק חם.אקדח שנופפו בו במערכה הראשונה, יירה בשלישית. אין מקום להתנהגות הטרוריסטית הזאת בכנסת ישראל. pic.twitter.com/WF8yRHFaNv
— מרצ (@meretzparty) December 22, 2021
“A pistol that is waved in the first act, will be fired in the third. There is no room for this terrorist behavior in the Knesset of Israel,” said Meretz.
Joint List MK Ayman Odeh also expressed outrage, tweeting “for the attention of the police: a convicted terrorist supporter pulled a gun on an Arab citizen because of a fight over parking.”
לתשומת לב המשטרה: תומך טרור מורשע שולף נשק על אזרח ערבי בגלל ריב על חנייה pic.twitter.com/KUw3YbVOrj
— Ayman Odeh (@AyOdeh) December 22, 2021
Religious Zionist Party MK Bezalel Smotrich expressed support for Ben-Gvir, tweeting: “When MKs in the left-wing coalition receive phone messages, they receive security, and when MK Ben-Gvir is attacked, there are those who try to blame him. This hypocrisy is unbearable.”
תקיפתו של ח״כ איתמר בן גביר אמש בתל אביב היא דבר חמור שלא ניתן לעבור עליו לסדר היום. כאשר ח"כים בקואליציית השמאל מקבלים הודעות לטלפון הם מקבלים אבטחה וכאשר ח״כ בן גביר מותקף יש מי שמנסים להאשים אותו.הצביעות הזו בלתי נסבלת.אני קורא לרשויות האכיפה למצות את הדין עם התוקפים.
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) December 22, 2021