Ben-Gvir condemns detention of Israeli soldier who attacked Palestinian activist

Israel’s extreme right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has condemned the 10-day-detention of the Israeli soldier who attacked Palestinian activist Issa Amro in occupied Hebron on Monday.

Ben-Gvir stressed that he “fully supports” the soldier who was caught on video grabbing Amro by the neck, throwing him to the ground and kicking him in the side. The activist was with The New Yorker journalist Lawrence Wright and photographer Barbara Debeuckelaere at the time.

“Disgrace! The anarchist Issa Amro who frequently hinders the Israeli soldiers in Hebron from doing their job, is doing it again, only this time it was with a camera crew of an American media organisation,” the extremist minister tweeted. “I support with all my might the soldier who did not keep silent. Soldiers should receive backing, not prison.”

Following the attack, the Israeli army said that an investigation conducted by commanders found that a “violent confrontation developed between a Palestinian and an IDF soldier in Hebron, during which the soldier beat the Palestinian.” At the end of his detention, the army will decide whether he will return to his unit or not.

Meanwhile, journalist Wright tweeted: “I never had a source assaulted in front of me until today when an Israeli soldier who stopped my interview did this with a Palestinian peace activist Issa Amro in Hebron.” He added, “I can’t stop thinking how dehumanising the occupation is on the young soldiers charged with enforcing it.”

It is worth noting that Amro’s house in Hebron has been declared a closed military zone due to his activism and all his family members except him were banned from going to it.

WATCH: A life of resistance in Palestine, MEMO in conversation with Issa Amro