Ben-Gvir, Arbel clash on WhatsApp over criticism of Attorney General

Government ministers from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party clashed with Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) over the former’s accusations that the Attorney General’s Office was intervening in National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's strict policies regarding the treatment of Palestinian prisoners suspected of terrorism, a screenshot from a government WhatsApp group showed.

The screenshot was first published by Channel 14 on Thursday, and a spokesperson for Arbel confirmed its authenticity.

Argument begins after Ben-Gvir's message

The argument broke out after Otzma leader Ben-Gvir sent a picture of an article from the newspaper Yisrael Hayom, which revealed a document in which representatives of the Attorney General’s Office posed questions to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) regarding claims that it was not providing “security prisoners” (terror suspects) with healthy enough food.

According to the article, the document was procured as part of the legal process to answer a petition against the government by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, in which ACRI argued that the IPS was violating the law by not providing security prisoners with healthy enough food, and in some cases with not enough food whatsoever.

Menu changes for Palestinian prisoners

In the document in question published by Yisrael Hayom, the A-G’s representative asked why fruit was taken off the menu and why hot dogs were being served twice a week, as this could potentially violate the law which requires that prisoners be served healthy food.

In addition, the A-G’s representative questioned an IPS policy to provide prisoners with an average amount of food, as this could potentially mean that prisoners who required above-average quantities of food were not being fed enough, also contrary to the law.

In the government WhatsApp group, Arbel took issue with the fact that Ben-Gvir did not mention the context and the A-G’s response, which was that the document was not a legal opinion but rather an attempt to determine the facts in order for the A-G’s office to defend the National Security Ministry and the IPS against the ACRI petition.

“The truth is also an option in a populist world that prefers headlines,” Arbel wrote.

Ben-Gvir's response

Ben-Gvir responded in bold letters, “I understand that you are busy flattering the attorney-general – maybe one day you will be appointed a judge – but the truth cannot be concealed. Delusional questions, delusional agenda – and an attorney-general who allows herself to intervene in the policies of my ministry.”

A fellow minister from Otzma Yehudit, Development of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yizhak Wasserlauf, echoed Ben-Gvir’s claim that Arbel was defending the A-G for personal gain. “Arbel, with flattery one cannot reach the Supreme Court, one must exert himself a little more.”

Government secretary Yossi Fuchs then intervened and wrote, “Gentlemen, let us remember that this group’s purpose is to pass on information to ministers and not hold public arguments.”

Ben-Gvir and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara have been at loggerheads for much of his tenure, as Baharav-Miara has accused him of illegally intervening in police operations and has also supported a petition to strike down as unconstitutional a law that Ben-Gvir passed in December 2022 giving him the power to “set policy” for the police, include in police investigations.

The spat also reflected simmering tensions between Shas and Otzma Yehudit since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. Shas chairman MK Arye Deri, a member of the war cabinet, has been critical of Ben-Gvir’s inflammatory rhetoric and public statements against US President Joe Biden.

According to a report by Zman Yisrael earlier this week, Deri believed that the extreme elements of the government were “pulling it in dangerous directions,” and that Deri thought that Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s behavior was “insufferable,” as was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “compromising conduct” in handling them.