Ben Gvir says attorney general pressures police chief, calls senior officer a liar

Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, used a radio interview to accuse the country's attorney general of putting pressure on the police commissioner, Danny Levy, and to attack one of the force's most senior officers in personal terms. Ynet reported that Ben Gvir described Maj. Gen. Boaz Blat, head of the police investigations and intelligence division, as an emissary of the attorney general and called him a cheat and a liar.

According to the same Ynet report, Ben Gvir claimed that Attorney General Baharav-Miara screams at the commissioner in meetings and said Levy had changed his stance by 180 degrees. The police declined to respond, Ynet said. Ynet framed the episode as an escalation in the confrontation between the minister and the police leadership, set against a backdrop of political deadlock.

What Ben Gvir alleged

The interview was broadcast on 103FM, a Tel Aviv area radio station. Political commentator Amit Segal, posting on Telegram, said Ben Gvir made the remarks to the hosts Sarai and Grinzaig, and that the minister claimed the attorney general was extorting the commissioner over building violations at his home.

News.co.il gave a similar account, writing that Ben Gvir said the attorney general was applying pressure on the commissioner through the issue of building offences allegedly committed at his house. That outlet also carried the line that she screams at him in meetings, which appears in every account of the interview. A Ynet news alert summarised the remarks as a claim that the attorney general was pressuring and screaming at the commissioner, alongside the description of the investigations chief as a liar.

All of these are claims made by Ben Gvir. None of the reports indicates that he presented evidence for them in the interview, and none records a response from the attorney general.

How the accounts differ

The reports agree on the core of what Ben Gvir said, but they describe it in slightly different language. Ynet's headline used the word extortion, quoting the minister, while its alert spoke of pressure. Segal's post states the building violations allegation without qualification, presenting it as part of Ben Gvir's claim, while News.co.il adds that the offences were alleged. Ynet's full report, as summarised, does not mention the building violations at all and focuses instead on the screaming claim, the 180 degree remark and the attack on Blat.

The people and offices involved

The attorney general in Israel is the government's chief legal adviser. The post carries significant authority over the legal positions the government takes and over law enforcement matters, which is why its relationship with ministers who oversee the police can become a point of friction.

The National Security Ministry is the government ministry responsible for the Israel Police. Ben Gvir, who heads it, is the minister with political responsibility for the force, while day to day command rests with the police commissioner, the most senior officer in the Israel Police. In Hebrew the commissioner is known by the acronym Mafkal.

The rank held by Boaz Blat, nitzav in Hebrew, is usually rendered in English as major general, one of the highest ranks in the force. The division he heads is known in Hebrew by the acronym Aham, short for the investigations and intelligence division, which handles major criminal investigations.

Why the remarks stand out

Public criticism of individual senior officers by the minister responsible for them is unusual, and Ynet characterised the attack as exceptional. The remarks also go beyond a dispute over policy: they accuse the attorney general of personal conduct toward the commissioner and suggest that the commissioner's position has shifted under that pressure. Ynet presented the exchange as part of a wider deterioration in relations between Ben Gvir and the police's top ranks.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from the attorney general's office, from Commissioner Levy or from Maj. Gen. Blat personally; the police as an institution declined to comment. The reports do not say whether any building violations at the commissioner's home have been documented or examined by any authority, or what change in the commissioner's conduct Ben Gvir was referring to when he spoke of a 180 degree shift. They also do not say whether the minister intends to take any formal step regarding the officers he criticised.