![Israeli Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir who heads the Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party gestures as he's held back during a special session to vote on a new government at the parliament in Jerusalem, on June 13, 2021 [EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1233430709-scaled-e1640250487364.jpg?fit=1199%2C800&ssl=1)
The Israeli Knesset yesterday called on the country’s Ombudsman to open a criminal investigation against far-right lawmaker, Itamar Ben Gvir, after video footage appeared online showing him threatening Arab security guards while holding a gun.
On Tuesday, Ben Gvir brandished a pistol during a confrontation with two Arab security guards in a parking lot in Tel Aviv.
Footage from the scene showed Ben Gvir shouting “you will not threaten me” while waving his gun after the pair told him he was parked in a restricted space.
The lawmaker said he felt he felt “threatened.” But the guard explained that he was asking Ben Gvir to remove his vehicle from a prohibited spot.
MK Mossi Raz of the Meretz party, a member of the coalition, asked Public Security Ministry Omer Barlev to “carefully examine” policies that enabled Ben Gvir to receive a gun licence.
The party said in a statement about Tuesday night’s events that Ben Gvir had “called for the murder of Arab citizens and threatened them” with a firearm, the Times of Israel reported.
READ: Israel grants Arab MK security amid rising threat from far-right