The National Security Committee, chaired by MK Tzvika Foghel (Otzma Yehudit), convened on Monday to hear a briefing from Minister of National Security MK Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) on the activities of his ministry, work plans and implementation of the ministry budget, as well as a report from the minister on the policy he formulated.
Committee Chair MK Foghel said, “The briefing is not only intended to update the Members of Knesset, it is mainly intended to update the public in the State of Israel about the activities of the ministry, implementation of the budget and the current challenges facing us.”
At the start of his statements, Minister MK Ben Gvir sparked a furor in the committee, saying, “I am proud of the changes I made in the prisons. For thirty years people groveled before the terrorists.” He added, “You turned the prisons into summer camps and all-inclusive hotels. This changed the entire equation you created. There are no chocolates and marmalade. There aren’t 10 yard hours and academic studies. Today there’s someone in charge.” MKs Meirav Cohen, Yasmin Fridman and Adi Ezuz (Yesh Atid) and Naama Lazimi (Labor) said angrily to the minister that hostages had related that they were beaten severely because of the treatment of prisoners in [Israeli] prisons. “Did you know that? Did the Shin Bet tell you that they were being beaten because of you?” one of the MKs said. Minister MK Ben Gvir replied that [the hostages] had said that they were beaten because of Israel Air Force bombings and because of the IDF maneuver, and said, “You’re all spokespersons for Hamas.”
In his briefing, the minister addressed various issues. He said about the Temple Mount, “In the past, a Jew who mumbled on the Temple Mount would be arrested. Everything has changed. We have returned to being in charge on the Temple Mount.”
“Today, people feel much safer,” said the minister, and said further about personal security, “We decided to create additional tiers in the Israeli [public] space that changed the perception of personal security. In my policy, I decided on strengthening security and establishing governance, while forming the National Guard. We started to give money to localities in favor of building fences, cameras and technologies that weren’t used here before. We gave over NIS 200 million to security components. We formed a National Guard in southern, northern and central Israel, with 900 combatants and a budget of NIS 230 million. Four hundred weapons and explosive charges were collected in house searches, 662 kilograms of drugs [were confiscated] and hundreds of illegal aliens were arrested. In addition, we formed a municipal security unit that operates in Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva and additional cities.”
On the issue of rapid response security teams, Minister MK Ben Gvir said, “In 2022 there were 43 rapid response security teams with several hundred members. Today there are 13,400 members of rapid response security teams.” Regarding firearm licenses, he said, “A year and a half before I arrived at the ministry, there were 8,000 firearm licenses, and today there are 337,000 armed citizens.” Minister MK Ben Gvir said about the wages of police officers, “A police officer used to earn NIS 6,500 and we doubled it to 12,000. Police officers reach out to me to thank me, and call it a ‘golden age.’ We have also restored the smile to the faces of the Border Police combatants. We invested in the police what was not given in the previous 30 years.”
As for the incitement team, the minister said, “I formed an incitement team that convenes in my [office] every two weeks. Before my time, people incited in Judea and Samaria and no one dealt with it. Today, a day after they incite, we reach them and they end up blindfolded. In 2022 there were 322 complaints regarding offenses of incitement to terrorism, and in 2025, which has not ended, 634 complaints were received.”
Minister MK Ben Gvir said about noise in mosques, “In 2022 no fines were given for this. In 2025, 82 fines were given.” As for enforcement of shooting at weddings, he said, “In the past, the police’s approach was not to intervene, but now, when necessary, we break up a wedding in which there is shooting. We even arrest the bridegroom.” The minister added that action was also being taken against polygamy, saying that in 2023 only two indictments were filed, whereas in 2025 the number of indictments totaled 17.
MK Pnina Tameno Shete (Blue and White—National Unity Party) said that the briefing did not address the social story of populations that suffer from excessive enforcement and profiling. “You harm Ethiopian Israeli children every day. The police harms them,” she said. MK Tameno Shete said that since 2019, a total of 30,000 cases had been opened against Ethiopian Israeli children. “You’ve done nothing on this issue,” she stated.
MK Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beitenu): “There is zero governance in Israel. There isn’t a single business in northern and southern Israel that doesn’t pay protection money. People are afraid in the State of Israel. According to statistics provided by the Abraham Initiatives, 210 people were murdered in Arab society. How many of these murders have been solved?” Minister MK Ben Gvir replied that he was very disappointed when these statistics were presented, since “when a police officer, including a Druze police officer, shoots an offender, they count that as a murder in the arab sector. I give full backing to the police officers.”
The minister said further that there was “zero tolerance for violence in sports.”
Throughout the debate, Minister MK Ben Gvir showed the participants videos to demonstrate his statements. the opposition members protested against this, and against the fact that they did not have time left to pose questions to the minister. “It’s disrespectful towards the Members of Knesset,” they said.
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