National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attacked Police Commissioner Danny Levy on Thursday, claiming that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara pressured him into changing his conduct.
In an interview with Radio 103 FM, the Minister called out the Chief of the Police Investigations and Intelligence Department, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt, amid the investigation into suspicions of election interference.
"Unfortunately, the Commissioner was blackmailed," Ben-Gvir claimed. When asked who was extorting him, he replied: "The Attorney General."
"Google it. It's not too difficult to understand why the Commissioner made a 180 degree turn. He, as commissioner, would execute the government's policies; I was satisfied with him," the minister stated.
He claimed that, "She (Baharav-Miara) is pressuring him; she screams at him during meetings. There are several things she's pressuring him on."
Asked what those things are, Ben-Gvir answered: "Aryeh Doron, check what his part in the story is," referring to the Police Chief Spokesman.
He later hinted at an affair relating to Commissioner Levy's house: "Google 'Police Commissioner construction violations,' and you'll see who his house's construction supervisors were. The Attorney General terrorizes people."
Ben-Gvir added that if the Commissioner had spoken to him about the issue, he would have warned him against improper conduct: "I don't let the grocery store give me even a one-shekel discount. If someone gives me a gift, I say that I can't accept it. If you are a public figure, watch yourself because people are watching you with seven eyes."
Ben-Gvir then attacked the head of the Police Investigations and Intelligence Division following a report that he had prohibited the transfer of investigative materials from the police to the Shin Bet as part of the investigation into suspected election interference.
"I think Boaz Blatt is an emissary of the Attorney General, sent to close cases, cover things up, and sweep them under the rug," the minister claimed. "Boaz Blatt is a fraud and a liar who has taken control of the Investigations and Intelligence Division and is running it as his own. The investigation was being handled by Meni Binyamin. What is he doing there?"
Ben-Gvir also addressed suspicions of foreign involvement in the elections, claiming: "Zini is talking about NIS 100 million that was transferred. We saw the vouchers. The suspicion is that Qatar was involved, and it is clear that there were various attempts at interference here. It is also clear that, even in the prisons, they transferred materials to the Joint List."
Later in the interview, Ben-Gvir addressed the high voter turnout for the Arab parties, after his aide and fellow party member Hanamel Dorfman claimed that it represented a protest vote against Ben-Gvir's policies at the National Security Ministry.
Addressing interviewer Avishai Grinzaig, Ben-Gvir said: "You kept saying that Ben Gvir was worth nothing, and suddenly it's blowing up in your face. Suddenly, it turns out that those very people you claimed I had no influence over all went to the polls to bring me down? That's the greatest compliment I've ever received."
"The claim that if the Arabs came out to vote because of me, to bring down Itamar-Ben Gvir, that is the best proof that I have accomplished what others failed to do for 40 or 50 years," the minister concluded.