Knesset Member Itamar Ben-Gvir (Religious Zionist Party) was filmed holding his personal firearm during a confrontation with two Arab security guards at a Tel Aviv fairground Tuesday night.
The incident occurred at the Expo Tel Aviv fairground (Ganei HaTaarucha), when Ben-Gvir and Bentzi Gopstein, chairman of the anti-assimilation group Lehava, arrived at a parking garage on their way to an event being held at the fairground by the Kisse Rahamim Yeshiva.
Two Arab security guards present at the garage confronted Ben-Gvir, after the guards accused him of parking in a restricted spot.
Video footage recorded by the guard from the latter half of the confrontation shows Ben-Gvir accusing the guards of threatening to beat him.
“You were about to beat me,” Ben-Gvir said.
One of the guards can be heard in the recording denying the claim.
“You threatened me,” Ben-Gvir retorted, calling police. “You won’t threaten me.”
During part of the incident, Ben-Gvir waved his pistol, saying: “If you continue to threaten me, I’ll deal with you. Shut your mouth.”
The security guards left the scene of the confrontation before officers arrived.
When police did arrive on the scene shortly thereafter, they located the two guards and detained them for questioning. Ben-Gvir made a statement at a north Tel Aviv police station regarding the incident.
“The incident could have ended in tragedy,” said Ben-Gvir Wednesday. “I saw in front of me ‘guards’ with hate in their eyes who cursed and threatened to harm me. They could have turned violent at any minute. I expect the police to investigate the two and issue an indictment against them. They belong in jail. It’d be safer for the public.”
"This might have ended in murder. When I parked the car, these two started to curse us. I responded, telling them to be quiet. Then they approached me menacingly and threatening me, saying: 'We'll kill you', 'We'll f*** you,' and 'We'll beat you.'"
"At this point I felt threatened and drew my gun, pointing it down. That calmed them down for a while."
