National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Wednesday he spoke with Police Commissioner Danny Levi, who told him Wednesday morning's protest violence was not pre-planned and that the commissioner 'very much disliked' the images. Ben Gvir said he has now instructed his office to examine restricting stun grenade use to exceptional cases per regulations or removing them from police entirely, according to his own statement on Radio Kol Berama.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Wednesday evening he spoke with Police Commissioner Danny Levi, who told him that morning's protest violence was not pre-planned and that he 'very much disliked' the images of the unrest. Ben Gvir, speaking to Radio Kol Berama, said he has ordered his office to examine restricting stun grenade use to exceptional cases under existing regulations — or removing them from police entirely if such limits are not sustained.
The desk has tracked this development since the first reports of the protest and the resulting controversy. At 10:06 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported protesters' claims that police used stun grenades and batons during an unauthorized demonstration, allegations that had not yet been independently verified. By 10:13, commentator Avi Moskov had called the police conduct a 'disgrace' to Commissioner Danny Levi. At 10:14, the thread shows Ben Gvir's first statements, initially through associates who said the High Court barred him from commenting publicly on police use of force and hinted he might end stun grenade use. Throughout the morning, the thread recorded the minister issuing progressively stronger warnings — from a threat of disciplinary changes after clashes in Bnei Brak, to a stated demand that stun grenades be limited to exceptional cases, to an outright threat to ban them from the police force entirely. The version published at 10:14 Jerusalem already carried Ben Gvir's statement that he would hold an urgent discussion to limit stun grenade use. The current update adds that Ben Gvir himself spoke directly to the commissioner, who expressed personal displeasure with the imagery.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Wednesday, senior police sources had defended the use of force against the protesters, arguing that blocking a major thoroughfare late at night crossed a red line and that force was applied in a graduated manner. Opposition figures have also weighed in: Democrats party leader Yair Golan said police violence was always wrong and accused Ben Gvir of encouraging violence against hostage deal protesters while now calling for restraint. Journalist Eli Hirschman called on both Ben Gvir and Levi to intervene immediately. These background items frame the political and institutional context in which Ben Gvir's Wednesday evening statement and the commissioner's reported stance emerge.
What remains unclear is whether the announced review will lead to a formal policy change or an immediate operational directive. The commissioner's reported position does not amount to an on-record policy statement, and no timeline for the examination has been given.
7 developments
- DevelopingEli Hirschman calls on Ben-Gvir, Police Commissioner to stop 'police violence'
- StrongIsrael's national security minister backs police who shot suspected car-rammer
- DevelopingYair Golan: summon police official Doron over 'Ben-Gvir police lost restraint'
- StrongIsraeli police fire stun grenades to disperse protesters
Source and signal
- Internal intake