Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan spoke in a Reshet Bet interview about the decision to prosecute the policeman who shot Salomon Tekka for negligent manslaughter, and the anger it caused among the Ethiopian community.
Erdan made it clear this was not a minor charge: "I think prosecuting a police officer for negligently causing death is a significant, serious, and rare incident."
"There's been a problem of over-policing Ethiopian immigrants. There's a problem of stereotyping, which is found not only in the police but throughout Israeli society," the Internal Security Minister added.
Later in the interview, Minister Erdan was asked why Israel allows the Satmar Rebbe, who advocates worldwide against the right of the State of Israel to exist, to enter the country, while the entry of international human rights organization operatives into the country is prevented.
Minister Erdan replied that the arguments raised on this issue originated from unfamiliarity with the law: "Preventing entry of boycott operatives is something that is enshrined in the law. The criteria that appear in it do not relate to the Rebbe.
"The radical Left is trying to portray it as if we were restricting freedom of expression - it's an abominable lie," the Minister stressed.
Regarding contacts for a unity government, Erdan expressed guarded optimism: "You don't need to be too sharp in politics to understand there are real contacts now in an attempt to form a unity government."
Erdan emphasized that the expiration of Gantz's mandate at midnight is not necessarily the end of the line for contacts on the subject: "If there's significant progress and by tomorrow they can't summarize all the details, there'll still be 21 days to exhaust this process."