Ben-Gvir: My rights are more important than Arabs’ freedom of movement

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir exposed what Israeli politicians have been thinking for years but not saying, when he said that his right to drive in the occupied West Bank is more important than Arabs' or Palestinians' freedom of movement in their own country.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has admitted that he believes his right to freely move around the occupied West Bank is “superior” to the freedom of movement for Palestinians.

“My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs,” he said in an interview with Channel 12 News on Wednesday.

Addressing Palestinian citizens of Israel and journalist Mohammad Magadli, Ben-Gvir said: “Sorry, Mohammad, but that’s the reality. That’s the truth. My right to life comes before their [Palestinians] right to movement.”

Ben-Gvir said, while as national security minister he does not have the authority to operate in the occupied West Bank, he openly supports the resumption of targeted assassinations of Palestinian activists, revoking entry permits for Palestinian labourers and not giving the Palestinian Authority (PA) their financial dues.

Israel collects millions in taxes on behalf of the PA which it regularly withholds as part of its efforts to force Palestinians to submit to its occupation’s needs.

Ben-Gvir also calls for imposing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ben-Gvir is, himself, an illegal settler living in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, built on the Palestinian land near the city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.

Arab MK Ahmad Tibi slammed the right-wing politician’s comments, saying:

For the first time, an Israeli minister admits on air that Israel enforces an apartheid regime based on Jewish supremacy.

לראשונה שר ישראלי מודה בשידור שישראל מקיימת משטר אפרטהייד המבוסס על עליונות יהודית

"For the first time, an Israeli minister admits on air that Israel enforces an apartheid regime,based on jewish supremacy” pic.twitter.com/RI3LRG4Lf3

— Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) August 23, 2023

According to UN data, about 750,000 Jewish settlers live in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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