Israeli Lawmaker Threatens Arab Security Guards With Pistol Over Parking

A right-wing Israeli lawmaker who drew his pistol and threatened Arab security men who asked him to move his car has been roundly criticized for what is being described as abusive and dangerous behavior, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Photo Insert: Ben-Gvir is notorious for defending Jewish radicals on trial in Israel and believing that Arabs who are not loyal to Israel be kicked out of the country.

“I drew my weapon, I didn't aim at them,” Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir said after pulling his gun during a confrontation with security guards in Tel Aviv after he felt he was “threatened” by two Arab security guards in a parking lot, Tzvi Joffre also reported for the Jerusalem Post.

The head of the Otzma Yehudit party, Ben-Gvir, was captured on video shouting at the security guard "you will not threaten me!" while waving the gun around and then pointing it at the ground.

"You wanted to beat me? You will not threaten me!" yelled the member of the Knesset (MK), adding that "if you threaten me I'll take care of you." Another video showed the security guards telling Ben-Gvir and a number of people with him to drop the weapon and go outside "if they're men," with one guard saying "I will f*** you all up."

Ben-Gvir was summoned by the Knesset Security Officer for a meeting after the incident went viral. The incident took place in the parking lot of the Expo Tel Aviv complex.

Israel Police denied on Wednesday morning claims by Ben-Gvir that the two guards ran from the scene and were later arrested by police for questioning, saying that it was looking into the incident but that no one had been arrested or questioned as of yet.

The security guards reportedly claimed that they had only asked the MK to move his car as he had parked in an illegal spot and that Ben-Gvir had confronted them first.

The Meretz Party expressed outrage at the Otzma leader's behavior during the incident: "The Kahanist Ben-Gvir was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization. Today, under the cover of immunity as an MK, he calls for the murder of Arab citizens and threatens them with firearms."

Joint List MK Ayman Odeh also expressed outrage, tweeting "for the attention of the Police: a convicted terrorist supporter pulled a gun on an Arab citizen because of a fight over parking."

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