Itamar Ben-Gvir
Itamar Ben-GvirMiriam Alster/Flash 90

On Sunday, police raided a number of homes in the Samaria community of Itamar belonging to activists of the anti-assimilation and anti-intermarriage group Lehava and arrested activists, including Lehava head Bentzi Gopstein. The police claim that the Lehava members threatened Arabs suspected of relationships with Jewish women.

According to Attorney and activist Itamar Ben Gvir, the arrests were politically motivated and were a response to pressure exerted upon the authorities by the Reform Movement.

"In my opinion, these arrests were done for one reason only: to please the Supreme Court and the Haaretz newspaper, which fabricates all sorts of stories against Gopstein," accused Gopstein on Channel 2. "Police are acting because of the pressure they are under from all sorts of organizations and foreign elements."

"The investigation is over rallies we held and banners that were waved. All along, we felt that there was nothing to criticize [because it is a matter of free speech], but suddenly the Reform Movement petitioned the Supreme Court and we get raided in the middle of the night."

“It is not impossible that, out of pressure from radical leftists, police are carrying out their bidding, acting in accordance [with their wishes] and arresting Lehava activists in ostentatious arrests, without bothering to summon [the activists] for questioning beforehand.”

Gopstein and the organization's activists consistently assert that their activity has never deviated from the law. In interviews with media, Gopstein has called on all relevant authorities to examine Lehava activity and see that this is, indeed, the case.