“I’ve Got Your Back”, Security Minister Ben Gvir Tells Israeli Police Officer Suspended After Confrontation with Hamas Photographer | The Gateway Pundit

A video making the rounds on social media showed Israeli Border Police officers attacking Mostafa Alkharouf, a journalist with the Turkish Anadolu Agency, in Jerusalem on Friday. The officer has been suspended, the case is under investigation. However, as in the case of George Floyd and many other “police brutality” videos, the clip leaves out the provocations leading up to the incident. Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he “has the officers’ back”.

This is a Palestinian journalist, Mostafa Alkharouf, was hospitalised after Israeli forces beat him in occupied East Jerusalem today while he was covering a group of people preparing for prayers! pic.twitter.com/WsppmbeHDb

— Jaz (@jazuk10) December 17, 2023

Mostafa Alkharouf was widely described as “a journalist with the Turkish Anadolu Agency”. However, according to Israeli sources, Alkharouf is actually a Hamas terror activist in East Jerusalem, where his job is to stir up confrontations and then take photos of the Israeli response.

Alkharouf was born in Algeria and moved to Israel in 1999. Israeli authorities wanted to deport Alkharouf to Jordan four years ago, who refused to take him.

On 22 January 2019, the Israeli Ministry of Interior ordered the deportation of Mustafa Alkharouf from his home in East Jerusalem due to his “affiliation with Hamas”, as terrorist-affiliated NGO Al-Badil reported: “The Jordanian authorities refused twice to permit al-Kharouf entry into Jordan.”

According to the Israeli Police, Border Police were operating in the area in east Jerusalem to arrest masked suspects for throwing stones and blocking traffic. The police said that Alkharouf  and other journalists at the scene interfered with police operations and clashed with the Border Police officers, who then used force in light of their refusal to leave the scene.

ברקע חקירת מח”ש השר בן גביר התקשר לקצין מג”ב שהושעה לאחר שהכה צלם במזרח ירושלים – והדגיש בפניו: “אתם תחזרו למג”ב. אני צריך אתכם יש לכם שר שנותן לכם גיבוי”. @shelleytap עם השיחה שהתקיימה בין השניים #חדשותהשבת pic.twitter.com/CovOwnnMAT

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 16, 2023

“Yes, I am Agba, a Border Police officer who has been fighting for 70 consecutive days, day and night, and is suspected of attacking a Hamas-supporting photographer who interfered with his work” right-wing Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted on Twitter.  “Yes, I will support our heroic fighters, who have been fighting for 70 consecutive days, day and night, and who prayed “Hear, O Israel” in the mosque in Jenin. No regrets and no apologies.”

Minister Ben Gvir called the Border Police officer who was suspended after beating the photographer in East Jerusalem – and told him: “You will return to the Border Police. I need officers like you . You have a minister who has your back.”

Ben Gvir was heavily criticized in Spring for calling for Israeli citizens to arm themselves and for lifting tight firearms restrictions. Since the barbaric terror attacks of Oct. 7, 260.000 Israelis have applied for firearms permits.

“When the war started, we knew that we were right when we said that every [person] that has a weapon can save a life,” Ben Gvir said on Dec. 4. “We need to enable as many people as possible to carry a weapon.  “My policy within the office was to permit as many people as possible to get a weapon,” Ben Gvir continued, saying that “within a short period of time, we are [now] giving up to 3,000 approvals a day,” up from about 100 a day before the war.