Itamar Ben Gvir
Itamar Ben GvirOlivier Fitousi/Flash90

The WhatsApp account of the wife of Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir has been permanently suspended by Facebook without notice and without explanation.

30 other people were also blocked in addition to Ben Gvir, including Lehava chairman Benzi Gopstein. The people who were blocked are all members of the Otzma Yehudit party.

In his letter, MK Ben Gvir noted that his wife works as a teacher and that her relationship with her students and teachers, which during the coronavirus crisis has relied on the WhatsApp platform, has been severely damaged.

"From the inquiries that I made, things are very serious. It is harassment based on political background, the wife of an MK is blocked because there are elements who want to silence the Knesset member," he wrote. Ben Gvir asked the Communications Ministry "to respond in an unambiguous manner and to act immediately on the issue."

MK Ben Gvir warned: "Today it is me, tomorrow it could be any other MK whose positions are not to the liking of those elements in the network, (or external factors that influenced the same network)."

The members of the the Otzma Yehudit party intend to file a lawsuit against Facebook. Attorney Iris Edri said: "We intend to file a lawsuit against the blocking of my client from using WhatsApp. It is a forceful, unilateral, abusive and discriminatory act taken without any warning against ordinary citizens, for no apparent reason or justification of any kind. The blocking of my client from the possibility of using WhatsApp is an abuse of power by a huge corporation, while violating their rights and causing ongoing damage, and especially while blatantly discriminating against them."