Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, on Sunday issued orders to the police to prohibit the display of any Palestinian flag in public space.
Ben Gvir described waving the Palestinian flag as an act that supports terrorism, even though Israeli law does not explicitly prohibit Palestinian flags.
Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, said in a tweet, “I have instructed the police today to impose a ban on flying any Palestinian flag or any flag that shows identification with a terrorist organization or incites against the State of Israel.”
He added, “We will combat terrorism and encourage terrorism with all our might.”
This comes in the wake of the release of the prisoner, Karim Younis, dean of Palestinian prisoners, on Thursday, January 5, after he spent 40 years in the occupation prisons, as he waved the Palestinian flag while receiving a hero’s welcome in his village in northern occupied Palestine, after his release.
Earlier on Sunday, Ben Gvir decided to tighten restrictions on the visit of Arab members of the Knesset (parliament) to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Ben Gvir is the Minister of National Security for a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu that was sworn in on December 29, 2022, and was described by international, Arab and Israeli media as “the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.”
It is noteworthy that the Israeli government is considered one of the most extremist governments in years, to the extent that the situation has affected the morale of the Palestinian people, such as flags, holy places, and symbols of the Palestinian Authority.
