National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and strategist Ronen Tzur has rekindled the public debate over the limits of responsibility, freedom of expression and the functioning of law enforcement.
The storm began after Tzur published a tweet in which he said he intended to reveal correspondence with an active user who, he claimed, presents himself as a Ben-Gvir supporter and expresses willingness to commit murder of civilians if ordered. Tzur also noted that the police are aware of the information, and therefore, he said, there is no need to file a formal complaint.
According to Tzur, the tweet confirms feelings about the existence of a "underground" operating with the encouragement of enforcement bodies have circulated for some time - and now, he clarified, the matter is set to be exposed openly.
Ben-Gvir demanded that Tzur remove the post or rephrase it within an hour, while warning of further legal steps, "You have one hour to delete the tweet or rephrase it, otherwise another lawsuit will sit on your desk following the previous suit. I'm not playing," he wrote.
Ben-Gvir flatly rejected the claims and stressed that there is no connection between him and those individuals, "Not every fool who threatens to murder, if this is true, knows Ben-Gvir, and is certainly not my envoy. Regarding police work you are confusing things: you are the one who shouted that I should not intervene, suddenly you ask why I am not involved?", he added.
Tzur replied "You are really hysterical for a National Security minister. Where is it written that he knows you or your envoy? It says only that he claims he is your soldier and no acquaintance was attributed to you," he wrote. He also argued that once the information was brought to the minister's attention, it is his duty to pass it to law enforcement, without that being considered improper interference.
Tzur then expanded his criticism and raised allegations of selective enforcement. According to him, there are dozens or even hundreds of calls on social media to harm government opponents that receive no adequate response, while other cases - including quiet protests - are met with a heavy-handed response from the police. "Do you have an explanation for why this happens? After all, you are a fairly dominant minister who is very keen to demand a firm approach to demonstrations," he concluded.