Itamar Ben Gvir

Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai speaks during a State Control Committee meeting at the Knesset, June 6, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Police chief says he won’t seek 4th year in office ‘under these conditions’

Kobi Shabtai, who has had a series of public disagreements with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, says he is not looking to extend his time in position

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Moafaq Tarif in his office in Jerusalem on June 21, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Netanyahu announces brief pause to wind turbine construction in Golan Heights

By ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, June 25, 2023.(Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

Contradicting Ben Gvir, Netanyahu says illegal West Bank land grabs ‘unacceptable’

By ToI Staff

Inside story‘Not alone in the driver’s seat’: US thinks Netanyahu has lost control of coalition

By Jacob Magid

June 25, 2023, 8:56 pm

Police chief says he won’t seek 4th year in office ‘under these conditions’

Kobi Shabtai, who has had a series of public disagreements with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, says he is not looking to extend his time in position

By ToI Staff

June 25, 2023, 4:26 pm

Contradicting Ben Gvir, Netanyahu says illegal West Bank land grabs ‘unacceptable’

PM declares government will take ‘strong action’ against those who carry out unauthorized settlement activity; lauds ‘changed equation’ of rare drone strike in West Bank

By ToI Staff

June 25, 2023, 5:58 am

Netanyahu announces brief pause to wind turbine construction in Golan Heights

PM says project on hold until after Eid al-Adha holiday on Wednesday; follows Druze leader’s warning against a community reaction that ‘the country has hitherto not seen’

By ToI Staff

File: Itamar Ben Gvir (right), head of the Otzma Yehudit party, and chairman of the Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich at an election campaign event in Sderot, October 26, 2022. (Flash90)

June 25, 2023, 3:59 am

Ministers slam security chiefs for calling settler attacks on Palestinians ‘terror’

Ben Gvir orders probe into ‘collective punishment’ at settlement of Ateret after assault on nearby Palestinian village; Smotrich rejects security chiefs’ denunciation of attacks

By ToI Staff

File: Muafaq Tarif, head of the Druze community in Israel, at a ceremony held at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on May 29, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 24, 2023, 5:50 pm

Druze leader: Golan wind turbine project must stop or face unprecedented response

Muafak Tarif speaks at emergency meeting over controversial project that has enraged Druze living on the plateau

By ToI Staff

Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (second left) with settlement leaders at the Evyatar outpost in the West Bank, June 24, 2023 (Twitter screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

June 23, 2023, 8:04 pm

Visiting Evyatar, Ben Gvir tells settlers to ‘head for the hilltops,’ expand outposts

Hardline minister calls for punishing military offensive to kill thousands of ‘terrorists’ alongside wide campaign to settle West Bank; US opposes new settlement activity

By ToI Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, May 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 23, 2023, 4:00 pm

‘Not alone in the driver’s seat’: US thinks Netanyahu has lost control of coalition

Biden officials tell ToI moves to expand settlements at the expense of normalization with Saudi Arabia prove far-right coalition partners are the ones steering government policy

By Jacob Magid

Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (center-right) meets with Druze spiritual leader Mowafaq Tarif and members of a Druze community council, June 22, 2023 (Twitter screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

June 22, 2023, 11:35 pm

After Druze riots, Ben Gvir says wind farm construction will pause for holiday

National security minister, who took hardline approach to protests, confirms project will halt for Eid al-Adha next week in a message delivered alongside Druze leadership

By ToI Staff

Druze community members protest against the construction of a new wind farm in the Golan Heights, June 21, 2023 (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

June 22, 2023, 2:58 pm

Ben Gvir overrules police on freezing wind farm project, despite riots – reports

Far-right minister vows work will continue despite two days of protests, violence; police chief reportedly wanted contentious work paused until after next week’s Eid al-Adha

By ToI Staff and Michael Bachner

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a deadly shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Eli, June 20, 2023. (Flash90)

June 21, 2023, 1:50 pm

Ben Gvir left out of terror attack security assessment, reportedly over lack of trust

Unnamed coalition members rail against national security minister, calling him ‘barking dog with no bite’ and coalition ‘weak link’; Ben Gvir sends letter demanding cabinet meeting

By ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security consultation after the terror attack at Eli on June 20, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)

June 20, 2023, 8:40 pm

Netanyahu: ‘All options open’ in responding to deadly West Bank shooting attack

Ben Gvir and others in coalition clamor for wide military operation after Eli terror: ‘Time has come to return to targeted assassinations from the air, to bring down buildings’

By ToI Staff

Commander of the Coastal District of the Israel Police Yoram Sofer at a ceremony for incoming National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, in Jerusalem on January 1, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

June 20, 2023, 4:31 pm

Police chief said to speak out against possible replacement who backs Ben Gvir

In leaks from closed-door meeting, Commissioner Shabtai is heard saying force will preserve the right to protest as senior cops discuss coastal region chief Yoram Sofer

By ToI Staff

Israelis protest against the government's planned judicial overhaul, outside PM Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, on May 25, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 20, 2023, 1:35 am

US says overhaul consensus crucial as Netanyahu coalition unilaterally restarts push

White House reiterates importance of ‘broadest possible base of popular support’ for judicial reforms as bill shackling court on ‘reasonableness’ doctrine heads to committee

By Jacob Magid and Carrie Keller-Lynn

An Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopter releases flares during an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the West Bank on June 19, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

June 19, 2023, 1:58 pm

Far-right minister calls for use of tanks, airpower after heavy clashes in Jenin

Finance Minister Smotrich urges ‘broad operation’ in West Bank; Egypt accuses Israel of inflaming violence, raising regional tensions; Palestinians threaten unprecedented response

By ToI Staff and AP

Screen capture from video of Border Police officers clashing with protesting settlers near the settlement of Hermesh in the West Bank, June 18, 2023. (Twitter. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

June 19, 2023, 8:34 am

Two Border Police officers suspended after violent clash with protesting settlers

National Security Minister Ben Gvir demands clarification after officers punch, shove, demonstrators who set up makeshift roadblock outside Palestinian town to protest attacks

By ToI Staff