While touring Lod and Ramle alongside police officers Wednesday night, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was filmed alongside several alleged criminals who appeared to have been detained in an operation. However, Haaretz reported that it is doubtful that any of those pictured were actually arrested.

The far-right minister visited the two mixed Jewish-Arab cities in central Israel in what he called a “governance tour” with officers and Border Police fighters as they carried out crime enforcement operations in Arab neighborhoods.

He was accompanied by Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni and outgoing Lod station commander Kobi Yagen during part of his visit.

Outside a home in Lod’s Rakevet neighborhood, Ben Gvir walked alongside Yagen, who told the minister that police had just raided the building, which belongs to the Abu Zkika family.

Ben Gvir was then filmed walking between men lying on the ground, face down with their hands covering their heads — giving the impression that officers had arrested them.

Speaking to the camera, the minister said the police’s Yamam unit employed “large forces and work in order to defeat this phenomenon of shootings and weapons.”

However, Haaretz reported that the men pictured on the........

© The Times of Israel