Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his wife Ayala were reportedly attacked by members of an anti-Zionist Charedi sect during a visit to the city of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem this afternoon.
According to Ynet, the couple’s car was surrounded by men from the Neturei Karta faction, which opposes the existence of the State of Israel on religious grounds. The sect’s leadership argues that Israel can only be established upon the return of the Messiah and the current Jewish state constitutes a secular reversal of divinely-willed exile.
Ben-Gvir was reportedly being driven through the city, located some 12 miles west of Jerusalem, when he noticed spray-painted Palestinian flags on a wall and stopped to inform police.
At that point, hundreds of Charedim “surrounded the vehicle” and “attempted to damage his car”, according to police.
Ayala Ben-Gvir was "attacked and injured" by the rioters as officers attempted to break up the crowds, authorities confirmed. The Ynet report added that she slapped one of the men back in self-defence.
The crowd reportedly attempted to attack Itamar Ben-Gvir while shouting slogans including "Zionist,” "murderer" and "you are in favour of army conscription".
Police were rushed to the scene and, using stun grenades, batons and other crowd-control measures, attempted to quash the riot. Footage shared on social media showed an officer hurling a stun grenade toward the crowd.
Following the incident, police officers erased the Palestinian flags from the walls at Ben-Gvir's request.
Neturei Karta is a fringe Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Zionism and the conscription of Charedim into the IDF. In 2020, members of the sect attended the funeral of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, following his assassination in Baghdad by the United States.
In January 2023, Neturei Karta activists visited Jenin in the West Bank, where they met with a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
Later that year, the group met with then Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during the UN General Assembly annual general debate in New York.
