Ben-Gvir sets up new unit to police left-wing activists

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has set up a new police unit that will oversee left-wing activists in the West Bank, his spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The purpose of the new team is to keep tabs on activists who cause instability in the region, according to the spokesperson. It will be part of the central command’s Judea and Samaria division, and will work in coordination with immigration police and the Interior Ministry among other bodies, he said.

“Founding the team for handling the anarchists is consistent with my clear policy of fighting those who disturb public order,” said the minister.

These are “anarchist elements who I see in Judea and Samaria, or Hebron cursing IDF soldiers, igniting tempers, inciting and encouraging harming Jews, and in doing so hurting the security of the state,” he said.

The minister added that he has “zero tolerance for those who hurt the security of settlers and of the State of Israel.”

NGO Peace Now said in response to the establishment of the new team that “instead of dealing with the settler violence that is rampant in the territories and harms human life and the stability of the entire region, minister Ben-Gvir directs the police to act against peace activists who try to prevent [settler violence], and take risks daily to calm the area and prevent damage to innocents.”

Grassroots peace organization Standing Together co-director, Alon-Lee Green also responded saying that the founding of the new team is an attempt to keep the truth about crimes occurring in the area from the public.

“Founding a special police unit whose whole purpose is to prevent human rights activists from getting to Palestinian towns will not prevent the public from being exposed to the fact that in those territories there is an apartheid regime in which the Jewish settlers have all the rights, while their Palestinian neighbors don’t have any,” he said.