Far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir has caused shockwaves across the country after he was caught on camera threatening Arab security guards with a pistol during a parking lot altercation in Tel Aviv.
On Tuesday, far-right firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir, Knesset member for the Religious Zionism Party, was filmed holding a pistol as he traded threats with a security guard at the Expo Tel Aviv conference center.
According to local news, Ben Gvir got into a heated argument with the Arab security team over a parking space, after he was told he’d left his car in a prohibited spot.
The video starts with Ben Gvir attempting to hide his pistol from the camera before revealing it as he confronts a security guard, who is filming the ordeal. The lawmaker then returns his gun to its holster but doesn’t let go of it throughout the altercation.
“You will not threaten me, I will take care of you,” the lawmaker says, according to Israeli media, as he confronts the guards.
One of the guards then says: “If you are real men, come at me, all of you, without weapons, I will f*** up all of you.” The remarks were directed towards the entirety of Ben Gvir’s entourage.
Ben Gvir claimed he was made to feel like his life was in danger after two security guards directed aggressive threats at him. “I saw in front of me security guards with hate in their eyes who cursed me and threatened to harm me. At any moment they could have committed life-threatening violence,” he said in a statement.
The MK also posted footage of the altercation on Twitter.
Police were called to scene and interviewed both Ben Gvir and the security guards. The MK has called for the guards to be put behind bars for the sake of public safety. His party also claimed that the “assault on MK Itamar Ben Gvir” was a “serious matter that cannot be ignored.”
