Police detain officers close to Ben-Gvir for multiple crimes of moral corruption

The Police Investigations Department (PID) detained a high-ranking officer in the Israel Prison Service (IPS) on Monday after an intense investigation into a series of alleged crimes, including bribery, breach of trust, disclosure in breach of duty, and abuse of office, and detained several other officers.

The PID investigated the officer in a secret investigation due to his connection to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In response, Ben-Gvir slammed the accusation and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara in a public statement on Monday evening, saying that “a red line was crossed.”

“The attorney-general has embarked on a reckless, anti-democratic, and illegal campaign aimed solely at toppling the government and its leader through unlawful means,” Ben-Gvir said.

“I demand that the government convene this Sunday to decide on establishing a public committee,” he continued, saying that the committee should “examine whether the attorney-general can continue to serve in her role.”

There’s little official confirmation of what exactly the police officer is suspected to have done. However, local media believe that this is related to an older case in which he pressured subordinate police officers to coerce a blogger who was critical of Ben-Gvir to retract his statements.

The blogger recorded the conversation and published it online, leading the officers to claim they acted in good faith and only wanted to have a “friendly” conversation with him.

Second officer detained

An IPS officer reported this to the Police Investigations Department.

Department officers arrived to speak to the senior IPS officer, blocking his car, leading to the IPS officer’s subordinates drawing their weapons on the PID officers, reportedly due to the belief that this was an attempt to harm the senior officer.

The PID officers identified themselves, leading the IPS officers to stand down; the senior officer was taken to work with the department officers in the convoy, including the IPS security detail.

The PID later announced that the IPS officer was under investigation for obstructing investigations and breach of trust.

This IPS officer was also close with Ben-Gvir, having been appointed last year, with reports indicating they maintain a warm relationship.

Ben-Gvir has strongly condemned the detainment and investigation as a political witch-hunt, saying, “This is a coup d’état. The Attorney-General and the State Attorney are using the Police Investigations Department to deter a very senior officer in the Prison Service and officers in the police from implementing my policy and that of the right-wing government.”

He was joined by Likud MK Moshe Saada, who said, “I criticize some of the things that Itamar [Ben-Gvir] does as National Security Minister, and of all kinds of his statements that I see as inappropriate. But to say that people are secretive because of him is not true.

“The police and its employees are independent. He cannot influence the investigations of the police or the prosecution of the police, and therefore, he has no power of influence, as they say. There was always a tug-of-war between the minister and the commissioner; it always happened. It has always been, and unfortunately, it always will be.”

Ben-Gvir’s office has also been under investigation for improperly licensing guns to civilians in the early days of the war; he has also called that a witch-hunt.