#Otzma Yehudit

[infosisraelnews]

Ben-Gvir licenciera le chef de la police s'il ne "respecte pas les consignes " selon un député d' Otzma Yehudit 

Le ministre de la Sécurité nationale, Itamar Ben-Gvir, pourrait licencier Kobi Shabtai de son poste de chef de la police israélienne s’il ne « suit pas la ligne de conduite », a admis la députée Otzma Yehudit, Zvika Fogel lors d’un entretien accordé vendredi matin à KAN Reshet B. « Si [Shabtai] n’est pas prêt à accepter le nouveau style, il n’y aura peut-être pas d’autre choix [que de le…

View On WordPress

#israel #Itamar Ben Gvir #jerusalem est #Kobi Shabtaï #Otzma Yehudit #Police d&039;Israël #politique

[plitnick]

Podcast: Israel, Biden, and the FBI’s Shireen Abu Akleh Investigation w/ Mitchell Plitnick

Podcast: Israel, Biden, and the FBI’s Shireen Abu Akleh Investigation w/ Mitchell Plitnick

Earlier this week, I sat down with J.G. Michael of the Parallax Views Podcast for wide-ranging interview that covered the recent Israeli elections, the US decision to open an investigation into Israel’s killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the fight against antisemitism, AIPAC’s electoral activities and much more. You can check out the conversation here.

View On WordPress

#AIPAC #antisemitism #Antony Blinken #Bezalel Smotrich #FBI #Gaza #International Solidarity Movement #Israel #Itamar Ben-Gvir #Joe Biden #Noam #Otzma Yehudit #Palestine #Rachel Corrie #Religious Zionism #Shireen Abu Akleh

[lunarian-anarchist]

Apparently Ben Gvir was in a car accident. How come car accidents kill innocent people all the time but monsters like him get lightly injured?

Also the putz ran a red light.

#Ben Gvir is an Israeli fascist btw #he’s a part of Otzma Yehudit #Otzma Yehudit is even worse than the Likud party #Israel #israel politics #reminds me of when Ron Desantis got into an accident

[willowchild]

It's actually so sad to see more and more people in your country becoming far right, hateful and either violent or a violence apologist.

#its scary and disappointing and angering. can you guys just be normal??? #and some moderate right wing People will pretend its not that bad because they can't handle the truth of our side having bad people #they think it has to be black and white #settler violence and right wing/far white wing racism feels like its been growing faster. look at how many ppl voted 4 ben gvir and smotrich #ugh!!!! i hope the people who are responsible for the things in umm safa huwara all these places are heavily punished #i hope people become more moderate. like kahana had like 1 mandate and otzma yehudit got tons wtd #i fucking hate this. people feel comfortable saying stuff graffitinh stuff and going out to harm Palestinians and their property #how can people be so hateful... #rant #israel #אם יש פה ישראלים: היי #I'm not right wing but you can be a right winger anf not an evil maniacm #I've heard ppl recently saying they think ppl r getting more moderate but I don't see it! #these ppl wouldn't listen to a Palestinian talking abt Israeli crimes. doesn't support their narrative and would make it hardrr 2 harm them #i hope 2 see changes by next elections. who knows maybe non voters will vote. maybe 18 yr olds are more progressive idk #it speaks

[astraystayyh]

Israel doesn't want to repopulate Gaza, you loveable dummy

Seriously, find one Israeli on this site who'll say otherwise. And no, quoting Ben Gvir doesn't count (assuming you even know who that is) anymore than quoting, say, Rudy Giuliani would count for anything, even though he supposedly spoke for the president of the USA for a time.

Hamas has 136 hostages. Including women, and actual literal babies, assuming they're still alive, that is. This could all have ended weeks ago if they'd fucking returned them. Israeli society would physically march on Benjamin Netanyahu's home and remove him in a coup if the hostages were returned tonight. But as long as they have Israeli people, and are unwilling to negotiate their return, that's an ongoing war crime. Is Israel evil for being a bull in a China shop trying to get back a "mere" 136 innocent civilians? Maybe. But Hamas started this and they can end it, they just don't want to. Please, justify that.

Hello, since you asked for one Israeli, here, I'll give you multiple statements:

Hundreds of activists at an Ashdod gathering in late November called for the reestablishing of Jewish settlements. “Let it be known that you support the appeal to renew Jewish settlement throughout all of the Gaza Strip. The nation is waiting for you”— Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council.

Israel “should fully occupy the Gaza Strip”— Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

An Israeli real estate firm pushes to build settlements for Israelis in Gaza. “Wake up, a beach house is not a dream” reads the ad.

Israeli Knesset member Limor Son Har Melech posted a video of herself in a boat with other settlers off the coast of Gaza. “Settlement in every part of the Gaza Strip … A large, extensive settlement without fear, without hesitation, without humiliation. This land is the land that the creator of the world gave to us.”

Israeli Settler, Daniella Weiss says Palestinians who live in Gaza, have no right to stay in Gaza.

An Israeli soldier saying that Israelis should start “investing” in Khan Younis.

Also why would the words of Ben Gvir not count? He is an elected minister, his words hold weight and they expose Israel’s clear intent to make Gaza inhabitable for Palestinians so that Israelis could settle in there— by destroying the infrastructures, making the health system collapse entirely, bombing entire residential neighborhood, Israel is trying to ensure that Palestinians wouldn't be able to return back to their land, because there is nothing livable left there.

And I'm glad you bring up all of this ending if the hostages were returned— Hamas tried to strike up a deal for the return of ALL the hostages, in exchange of the release of all Palestinian prisoners. Israel refused. You know why? Because this has never been about hostages and their safety for Israel.

There is a reason why Israel shot its own hostages when it mistook them for Palestinian civilians, waving a white cloth. There is a reason why the IDF called to shoot indiscriminately on Oct. 7, knowing that it could kill some of the hostages too. Because Israel wants to kill Palestinians, to "thin out its population" (or maybe we shouldn't take into account the says and actions of Netanyahu too ://). This is why it targets schools and mosques and hospitals and ambulances and refugee camps. Israel knows that if it does get all its hostages back, then there would be nothing to “justify” its genocide in Gaza (although, as UN Secretary-General said : "Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond words")

Israel is the only reason why the hostages aren't fred yet. THEY are unwilling to negotiate the return because they don't want to stop this genocide. What good is a five days ceasefire only for the bombings to return? Do you even realize how psychologically traumatizing it is to have a countdown of when your massacre would resume? The only acceptable deal is for Israel to establish a permanent ceasefire, something that it refuses to do. The only one to blame is Israel.

And you say Israelis would instigate a coup to oust Netanyahu, that's nice, then what? Will you return the land to its rightful people? Will you give back Palestinians their rights unequivocally? Will you call for the dismantlement of Israel that was built on massacres? The reason why Israelis are angry at Netanyahu is rooted in the unresolved hostage situation. Just because you don't support Netanyahu doesn't mean that you aren't a zionist who finds the murder of more than twenty thousands Palestinians justifiable. A young girl had her leg amputated with no anesthesia on the kitchen counter of her home and you talk about “Israel being a bull in a China shop”? You consider the targeted attacks on civilians as careless actions by Israel? It actually astonishes me how inhumane some of you can be.

And here is what Dr. Refaat, who was targeted and murdered by the IDF btw, had to say about this matter:

Whether it's Netanyahu or someone else, it does not matter because Israel as a whole is an occupation, one built on the bloodshed of palestinians.

And it is funny how you choose to distort history whichever way you like it, to regard October 7th as an isolated instance that happened out of the blue. Hamas didn't start anything, Hamas was created in response to the indiscriminate and careless shooting of palestinian civilians in the first Intifada, that was decades ago. October 7th was a resistance to an ongoing colonization, Israel started this when it displaced and murdered palestinians on 1948. None of this would've happened if Israel did not colonize Palestine. It has been 100 days of this ongoing genocide, wake up and stop deluding yourself into a reality where Israel is the victim.

#dismissing Ben Gvir's statements #(yes i know who it is thank you for your concern) #then diluting this genocide into a mere matter of “hamas should return the hostages” #it must feel nice to change up the narrative so you'd be able to sleep nicely at night #and not take into account the statements that disturb you #but thanks for thinking im loveable! you are right on that point #maybe there is still hope left for you then #free palestine #palestine #gaza #free gaza

[hazardous-waste-containment]

Kahaneposting in an attempt to decide whether I can in honesty call Ben-Gvir & co. fascist

#there's two elements to it #was kahanism fascist in the first place? #answer: kinda. probably #and has otzma yehudit kept true to the principles of kahanism? #answer: crypto-fascism is genuinely a thing and more relevant here than with meloni i think

[sylveongender]

please share this is important!!!

link to tweet: https://x.com/shimmeringolds/status/1726054168916304250?s=46&t=KZJMvptKg1sELtIK2ugHbg

[ID: tweet from @/shimmeringolds on november 18th, 2023 that reads: “You all please look at this!!!! On Monday the Israeli occupation parliament is presenting a law to kill 7000 Palestinians in illegal israeli occupation prisons!!! If it passes, it means that the Palestinians who are in those prisons will be killed as part of the zionist law!!!”

the tweet she is quoting is from @/QudsNen (Quds News Network) on november 18th, 2023 and that tweet reads: “The Extremist "Itamar Ben Gvir" Minister of National Security in the Israeli occupation government:

"On Monday, there will be the first reading of the death penalty law for Palestinian political prisoners, this law is presented by the

"Otzma Yehudit" party (led by the extremist Ben Gvir) this law will be discussed in the national security committee. He added, I expect all members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to support this important law"

The number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons has increased to 7000 prisoners, 64 of whom are women. And tens of children. #Palestine_Genocide” Below the text there is a photo of Itamar Ben Gvir. End ID.]

#palestine #free palestine #israel is committing genocide #israel #israel is an apartheid state #pro palestine #gaza #genocide in palestine #genocide in gaza #genocide #palestinian prisoners #save palestine #support palestine #occupied palestine #palestine under attack #i stand with palestine #posts on palestine #israel is a terrorist state #israeli apartheid

[bill-the-dog-for-the-check]

One thing that really sticks out to me about this post-October 7th world, is the absolute lack of any sympathy or leeway given to Jews. Not just in the context of the war, but like how Jews involved in leftist spaces are now being warned to disavow all connections to Zionism, Israel, and to condemn Netanyahu. And well, I'll be honest--I think Netanyahu sucks, but that's besides the point. Does anyone else think it's weird that we have to pass these litmus tests? Especially when no one else has to? Why is it okay to demand a Jew condemn our right to self determination in our homeland, but it's racist and wrong to demand a Muslim disavow Hamas or ISIS?

God help you if you have 'wrong' views as a Jew.

The comparison is more interesting when you look at how extreme views are treated on either side. For example, take an Israeli Jew who supports Otzma Yehudit and the settlements. That's a person led astray by their grief and fear. But to the antizionists, there's no leeway, empathy, or understanding given to such a person--they're a Nazi through and through, deserving of any and all violence unleashed upon them. But how do the pro-Palestine people view a Palestinian Muslim who supports or even is an active member of Hamas? Well, who can blame them, the Jews--er, IOF--have essentially forced them to become a terrorist--I mean, freedom fighter.

The double standards are astounding. We're not allowed to grieve the hostages, to mourn our dead, to fear the new wave of antisemitism engulfing the world, or be given basic human compassion. We're just 'Zionazis' which means we're evil in this black & white worldview. There's one set of standards for Jews, and one set for everyone else.

#jumblr #jewish #leftist antisemitism #anti zionisim #antisemitism #zionism

[purplenidoqueen]

You can be antizionst, I honestly don't care for your personal opinion.

But when you speak out, a jewish person, against most of your jewish siblings, you are actively hurting us all.

You being publicly jewish and anti zionist, which is a term mostly used to sugar coat antisemitism (my grandma's polish passport taken after the holocaust because "anti Zionism" for example), is used by real antisemitic people in the same way republican use conservative black people, and sexits use conservative women.

Idk, just felt like telling you my opinion.

I really don't intend to hurt you or anything like that. If it comes off as super harsh, please forgive me.

Have a great day!

I'm not speaking out against anything Jewish. Zionism isn't Jewish, and you don't have to be Jewish to be a zionist any more than you have to be a zionist to be Jewish. If there are a number of zionist Jews, that's a problem of zionism, just as the fact that there are white people who are racist or sexist or otherwise bigoted doesn't make white folk the problem. Still you say I'm hurting us all, as the usamerican conservatives say that learning the truth of slavery and antiblackness during the pre- and post-Civil War eras hurts white students? I'm not the one making us look bad; look instead to Netanyahu or Ben-Gvir or Gallant, and judge yourself not for the actions of your kin but by your own actions alone.

Let's put aside the way those same conservatives use zionism to push the far-right ideologies of Likud, Otzma Yehudit, and similar groups into the mainstream of Jewish, Christian, and contemporary western culture. Let's just focus on the issue of antisemitism, on a small scale or on a larger scale. Let's focus on October 7th, or the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, or the Shoah, or all number of incidents prior or since. Why is October 7th seen as the start of an onslaught that has been ongoing since last century? Why do we as a broader culture know of the Tree of Life but not of the Cave of the Patriarchs? Why do we teach students about the Shoah but not the Nakba? Why do you think Jewish people are worth more than the millions of Palestinians that have been killed, maimed, sickened, starved, abducted, terrorized, or displaced by Israel for eight decades? Why should I consider the threat of another October 7th to be a reason to excuse to commit a cultural genocide or a murderous, exterminationist genocide of over two million people, by right of skin color and a landlord's dreams of real estate? Because one side is my people? You're all my people. Every life on this planet is one of my people, and if my own mother, sweet as she is, committed a sin so grievous I'd do anything I could to bring her to justice.

I'm sorry your grandma had issues of antisemitism. You and I have experienced it too, I assume, though likely not as a systemic issue. I personally lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when the congregation of Etz Chayyim-Or L'Simcha was attacked by a neonazi. I know all too well how antisemitism can spread, unprompted and unabashedly. If you want to put antisemitism to rest, turning "our people" into a country of genocide apologists is not the way to do it. To call antizionism a form of antisemitism is true antisemitism, because it's a way of preying upon the fears of a people that have already been through so much in recent memory. Israel will be judged for Israel's behavior. The dream of avoiding antisemitism is not worth another holocaust.

The Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestine, so soon after watching the post-9/11 descent of my entire country into islamophobia and war, is the single issue that radicalized me into politics as a teenager back in 2005/2006. If I can help others learn what I learned and see what I've seen, then I think it's worth some hard feelings.

Speaking of hard feelings, don't forget: After World War I and the Great Depression, the people of Germany thought the Third Reich had a reason to rule as they did. I speak out against zionism because one grave sin does not permit another. Don't give Likud an excuse to be the modern era's new Nazis.

#palestine #genocide #antisemitism #antizionism #jumblr #hi jumblr! i know it's controversial to tag antizionism under jumblr but the jews that are uncomfortable with this need to hear it most #take care of yourselves everybody #block and move on

[palms-upturned]

Israeli committee discusses death penalty law for Palestinian fighters

Nov 20th, 10:45 GMT

The Israeli National Security Committee has convened to discuss a bill for the introduction of the death penalty against Palestinian fighters.

The proposal was advanced by the party of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“The death penalty law for terrorists is no longer a matter of left and right … [it’s] a moral and essential law for the State of Israel,” said Ben-Gvir on X.

The proposal was met with great concern by family members of those taken captive during Hamas’s attack on October 7.

In a moving speech, Gil Dilkma, a cousin to one of the about 240 captives, pleaded with the minister to drop the legislation which could put at risk the lives of those taken captive in Gaza.

“Remove the law, if you have a heart,” he said, holding back tears.

Striking a similar note, the Missing Families Forum said in a statement that such discussion “endangers the lives of our loved ones, without promoting any public purpose”.

Far-right politicians, captives’ families split over death penalty bill

Nov 20th, 12:05 GMT

A member of the Israeli far-right Otzma Yehudit party yelled at a family member of a captive who showed opposition to a bill that would introduce the death penalty for captured Palestinian fighters.

“Stop talking about killing Arabs; start talking about saving Jews,” said a relative of one of the about 240 captives, according to Israeli media. His fear, shared by the Missing Families Forum, is that the legislation, if approved, could endanger the lives of their family members held in Gaza.

“You have no monopoly over pain,” Almog Cohen shouted back.

“You are silencing other families,” said Limor Son Har-Melech of the same party.

Jewish leaders criticise possible expansion of Israel’s judicial death penalty

Nov 20th, 14:00 GMT

The group L’chaim – Jews Against the Death Penalty has expressed alarm over the possible expansion of the statute, which could see Palestinian assailants being sentenced to death.

Earlier, we reported on a Knesset committee hearing over the controversial legislation.

“We urge the Knesset to reject any such proposals. Purely as a practical matter, enshrining capital punishment beyond how it already exists in Israeli law is unnecessary and will be an enticement to more terrorism and murder,” the group said.

“Acceptance of judicial executions as an Israeli norm is irresponsible and will cost innocent Israeli lives,” it said in a statement.

Relatives of some of the approximately 240 captives taken by Hamas on October 7 told the Knesset not to hold the hearing over concerns that it could derail chances of getting their relatives back.

Palestinian detainee was ‘beaten to death’: Prisoner rights groups

Nov 20th, 15:15 GMT

On Saturday, Israeli forces raided a cell in the Naqab/Negev prison and physically assaulted 10 Palestinian detainees, especially Thaer Abu Asab, a witness has said.

A released prisoner told the Palestinian Prisoners Society and the PA Commission for Detainees that Abu Asab, a 38-year-old from Qalqilia in the occupied West Bank, was brutally beaten.

“When his condition deteriorated, prison authorities initially refused to call for medical assistance. After about 90 minutes, a nurse inspected him and he was then taken away. We did not know what his fate was,” the released prisoner said in a statement.

The prisoners’ groups said Abu Asab, who was detained since 2005 and sentenced to 25 years in jail, was “assassinated” by Israeli authorities.

“This is part of Israel’s systemic assassinations against our prisoners, and it is premeditated,” the groups said, adding that five other detainees have died in jail since October 7.

(Emphasis mine)

#palestine #free palestine #al jazeera #don’t forget that freeing ALL palestinian prisoners in administrative detention was the original hostage exchange proposal #we can’t abandon them…

[plitnick]

Biden administration and Israel lobby in a panic following Netanyahu’s far-right election sweep

Biden administration and Israel lobby in a panic following Netanyahu’s far-right election sweep

With Israel’s image already slipping badly as its apartheid policies are laid bare for more to see, advocates for Israel were already losing people as more and more liberals gave up trying to square their values with a country that obviously does not share them. This group includes a wide range of centrist and left-of-center advocates as well as the US government. Now that Religious Zionism…

View On WordPress

#Abraham Accords #AIPAC #Americans for Peace Now #apartheid #Benjamin Netanyahu #Bezalel Smotrich #Bob Menendez #David Friedman #David Makovsky #Dennis Ross #Dror Aryeh #Israeli elections 2022 #Itamar Ben-Gvir #J street #Jewish Federation #Joe Biden #LGBT #Ned Price #Noam #Otzma Yehudit #Palestinians #Religious Zionism #Remi Kanazi #Tom Nides #UAE #United Arab Emirates #US State Department #Washington Institute for Near East Policy #WINEP

[vague-humanoid]

Israeli government officials including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined tens of thousands of ultra-nationalists participating in Thursday's inflammatory "Flag March" in occupied East Jerusalem, an event at which police and demonstrators attacked Palestinians and journalists while chanting slogans including "death to Arabs" and "your village will be burned."

Ben-Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Transport Minister Miri Regev were among the Israeli officials who took part in the annual march, which celebrates Israel's conquest and illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Marcher Limor Son Har-Melech, a lawmaker from Ben Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, toldThe Times of Israel that she was participating to celebrate "our victory over the Arabs."

[ultfreakme]

"The Extremist “Itamar Ben Gvir”, Minister of National Security in the Israeli occupation government: “On Monday, there will be the first reading of the death penalty law for Palestinian political prisoners, this law is presented by the “Otzma Yehudit” party (led by the extremist Ben Gvir) this law will be discussed in the national security committee. He added, I expect all members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to support this important law”. The number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons has increased to 7000 prisoners, 64 of whom are women. And tens of children." - Quds News Network

They're going to vote to kill literally every person that's been imprisoned, majority if not all of them are innocent. They have imprisoned children.

the death toll at this point is 13,300.

13,300.

That's thousands of lives, dreams, happiness, families that are just gone. Thousands more under the rubble. If this doesn't show how evil they are, how evil this is and how a ceasefire is the bare minimum, I don't know what will.

#palestine #free gaza #free palestine #ceasefirenow #gaza strip

[charliecharlston]

Heya! I'm an ignorant Israeli who thought she could escape politics forever, would you mind explaining what the khanaist movement is about?

god i get that tbh, i ran away from politics for so long and while whenever i think sbt it too lonh i wanna put a bullet in my head, its important. slso sorry u sent this in march snd im JUST now seeing this😭

kahanism was the core ideology of the "kach" party, founded by rabbi meir kahane in 1971, and was subsequently banned in 1994.

i believe the most seats they ever had in knesset was 1?? despite how much they ran.

for a brief overview heres all the ideologies the kach party followed:

basically they wanted arabs and muslims out of the country, and the stuff they had in store for non jews in general wasnt cute either.

"greater israel" refers to the fact that they wished to bring israel back to its very ancient borders, which includes the west bank and gaza, as well as sinai and a small part of jordan. (this especially yucks me out bc it shits on the sacrifice the likes of ben gurion and rabin made for the sake of having a state of israel, we dont need all the land we ever had ever, we can compromise)

halachic state/religious conservatism refers to how they wanted jewish teachings and halachah to be upheld legally by the state. following in touch w their anti arab and anti muslim mentality, they wanted schools to be focused on teaching judaism. i think that stuff is important yes, but it needs to be a choice. i think like implementing 1% of this general idea is like? okay? but israel isnt a jewish only state and needs to be inclusive of non-jewish citizens. a public school shouldnt force everu child to learn halacha and how to be orthodox, if parents want that then a different school shld exist for that yk?

theres a LOT more to what meir kahane and his followers believed, that i myself dont want to get into cuz their racism and religious supremacy "in the name of judaism/zionism" is anything but jewish to me, so yea its bad enough yk. you probably kmow this, but if u dont, the modern party "otzma yehudit" ("jewish power" being racist isnt jewish power literally kys ben gvir) is linked heavily wirh the banned kach party. and they all suck.

btw if i got soemthing wrong here pls dm me/comment/rb to let me know!!

#ישראבלר #טאמבלר ישראלי #jewish #jumblr #ישראלים #israel #kahanism #israeli politics #zionism #religious zionism #meir kahane #i hate u meir kahane #hasbara #israel tumblr #israeli history #israel history

[hero-israel]

Hi! I was wondering if you had any resources/articles/suggestions for readings about leftist zionism? As in zionists who are also left wing? I've tried Google but it was a very useless search lol

Worse than useless. If you don't already know some of the keywords, just searching for "leftist Zionist" gives you pages and pages of fanfic from Mondoweiss or Al-Jazeera about how surely now the Jews are about to abandon Israel (and pay no attention to their previous 10-20 years of false predictions). When in fact what we have seen is unprecedented engagement and intervention in Zionist society. Pretty much all diaspora Jewry is united against what the current Otzma Yehudit government stands for. The Histadrut trade unionists launched a general strike that convinced Netanyahu to shelve his court overhaul plan. These are not people who are giving up. When you compare the results of public action engagement on the Israeli court overhaul plan versus that of, say, the overturn of Roe vs Wade, or the Wall Street bank bailout, or the lead-in to the Iraq War, it looks like Israeli progressives have had more success than the Americans.

Some groups you should look into:

Ameinu

Habonim Dror

Hashomer Hatzair

Zioness

Some other sources and thoughts on progressive / leftist Zionism can be found HERE and HERE. (Note that I should have included Ritchie Torres and Anshel Pfeffer on that list.)

Hope that helps!

#zionism #liberal zionism #leftist zionism #judaism #israel #jumblr

[mariacallous]

TEL AVIV (JTA) — When he spoke with a news anchor on Thursday night, Israeli reservist Aviad Frija was hailed by right-wing politicians and commentators as a hero for his role in responding to a terror attack at a Jerusalem bus stop earlier that day.

By Monday, Frija was arrested by the IDF and under investigation. The man he had shot was not a suspected terrorist but an Israeli civilian who had himself played a role in halting the attack.

According to video from the scene, Frija had shot the man, a 38-year-old lawyer named Yuval Doron Castleman, after Castleman had gotten on his knees, dropped his gun and put his hands in the air to show that he was not a threat. Castleman, a former police officer turned lawyer, was initially left bleeding on the ground and later died of his wounds, a day shy of his 38th birthday.

Castleman “did everything he needed to do so they could identify him. He went down on his knees, opened his jacket to show he didn’t have any explosives on him, yelled at them, ‘Don’t shoot, I’m Jewish, I’m Israeli,’ and they continued to shoot him,” his father, Moshe Castleman, said on Israeli Army Radio.

Castleman’s death has drawn scrutiny to the ways in which Israel’s right-wing government has encouraged everyday Israelis to own guns and fight terror themselves — a gambit to boost security that, critics say, has instead led to the spilling of more Israeli blood. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who already faces widespread public disapproval over his handling of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel — has come in for more criticism in recent days over what some say was a flippant response to Castleman’s death.

“This has allowed a jungle in terms of everything related to distributing weapons, using weapons,” Eran Etzion, a former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council, said on Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster. “This is a terrible thing that will have far-reaching consequences… an atmosphere where everyone will take a weapon, and use it.”

Castleman’s family is also castigating officials for their response. His father and sister Shaked have called his death an “execution,” while his sister Noga said the family did not hear from the police until several hours after the incident and did not get the chance to comfort Castleman in his final hours of life.

“We carried on with our lives as he was fighting for his life,” Noga said, according to Kan. “We weren’t there to caress him, to call to him. I wouldn’t wish upon anyone that they hear what happened to a loved one in such an unclear way.”

After his death, said Shaked, “instead of mourning, we find ourselves in a war for justice.”

For more than a year, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, has encouraged private citizens to own guns and has made Israel’s historically strict gun-control requirements more lenient. He has also pushed to loosen open-fire regulations for police officers, whom he oversees. Earlier this year, he praised an Israeli settler who killed a Palestinian in an altercation. (Frija is a member of the Hilltop Youth, a group of young extremist settlers, as well as a reservist in the IDF.)

Since Oct. 7, Ben-Gvir said in a recent government hearing, more than 260,000 people have applied for gun licenses. “When the war started, we knew that we were right when we said that every place that has a weapon can save a life,” he said at a recent meeting of his party, Otzma Yehudit or Jewish Power.

But Ben-Gvir’s policies have faced backlash. In recent weeks, Israeli media reported that U.S. officials were threatening to stop supplying guns to Israel if they continued to wind up in the hands of civilians. (The Department of State declined to comment, with an official telling JTA the department does not comment as a matter of policy on “the status of licensed direct commercial defense sales activities.”) On Monday, the head of Israel’s Firearm Licensing Department resigned in protest of the loosened gun ownership requirements.

And critics of Netanyahu’s government have drawn a link between Ben-Gvir’s policies and Frija’s shooting of Castleman, even though Frija was in uniform at the time.

Moshe Yaalon, a former Netanyahu ally and defense minister, posted online that Ben Gvir’s “populist calls” to loosen open-fire regulations “contributed to the tragic result.” Yaalon and others also linked the shooting to a 2016 incident in which IDF soldier Elor Azaria shot dead a disarmed Palestinian terrorist who was lying on the ground. Azaria was tried and convicted but also became a hero to some on the right.

Netayahu’s critics have also chided him for his initial response to the incident, in which he defended Ben-Gvir’s policy though he acknowledged that it posed potential dangers.

“We know that in the waves of terror in the last decade and earlier, the presence of armed civilians often saves the situation and has prevented a huge disaster,” he said. “I think that in the present situation we need to continue this policy. I fully support that. It may be that we will pay a price for this, and that’s life.”

The “that’s life” comment particularly irked critics, and on Sunday, Netanyahu offered a more sympathetic message in a video shared to his social media in which he said he had spoken to Castleman’s father.

“Yuval Doron Castleman is a hero of Israel. In a supreme act of bravery, Yuval saved many lives,” Netanyahu said. “However, unfortunately, a terrible tragedy occurred there – and the man who had saved others was killed. There must be a thorough inquiry.”

In the days following the incident, the IDF has released several statements indicating that its rules of engagement forbid firing upon suspects with their hands raised, and announced on Monday that Frija is being detained and questioned in what is called a “preliminary arrest.” Since his initial interview, Frija has subsequently claimed that he was acting out of fear for his own life.

Critics of the shooting on the left do not see it as an isolated incident, but as the result of a culture that has been nurtured for years on the Israeli right. Avner Gvaryahu, director of the Breaking the Silence, an anti-occupation group focused on the experiences of combat veterans, described a “years-long campaign led by the right-wing politicians, organizations, spokespeople, and journalists to ‘not tie the hands of our soldiers’” when they face a threat — though he noted that it was impossible to know what Frija was thinking in the moment.

Gvaryahu, whose organization leads tours in the West Bank, said he sees that culture taking hold there as well. He said, from what he’s witnessed, rules of engagement for soldiers are “becoming more flexible, basically, making it easier to shoot.”

In the face of the criticism, Ben Gvir and others on the right have portrayed the incident as a horrible accident. In an online post, right-wing journalist Yotam Zimri called the shooting a “terrible tragedy” and implied that it was wrong to place blame on Frija.

“There are no bad guys in this story except for the two Arab murderers,” he said, referring to the two Hamas-affiliated terrorists who perpetrated Thursday’s attack. “If you’re looking for other bad guys, there’s something wrong with you.”

But during a visit with Castleman’s family on Monday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog acknowledged that the state bore some responsibility for his death.

“I have come here not as a private citizen but as the president of the state of Israel, to ask forgiveness and express great appreciation for a hero of Israel who did something great and courageous,” Herzog said, adding that Castleman “paid with his life in what I see as the worst and most outrageous way possible.”