Ben-Gvir celebrates October 7 arrest of Ra'am party activists

Israel's extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has celebrated the detention of supporters of a Palestinian political party within Israel's 1948 boundaries, comparing their motorcycle convoy to the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023.

This comes amid mounting efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to exclude Palestinian parties from the country's forthcoming elections.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the attacks, when motorcyclists carrying green flags associated with the Islamist-leaning Ra'am party, led by Mansour Abbas, travelled along roads in the Negev region of southern Israel.

Videos circulating on social media showed the convoy waving the party's banners, prompting accusations from right-wing Israeli politicians that the scenes resembled those of the 2023 attacks.

Ben-Gvir posted a photograph on X showing a motorcyclist lying bound on the ground, claiming police had intervened against riders who were breaking the law and frightening local residents.

He said the convoy had briefly evoked images of the 7 October attacks, when Hamas-led fighters entered southern Israel from Gaza.

"They forgot one little detail: The national security minister is Itamar Ben Gvir, and the policy has changed," he wrote, adding that officers had made arrests and issued fines.

However, subsequent Israeli police accounts focused on alleged traffic offences rather than the political affiliation of the riders.

According to Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS, police intercepted the convoy near Ohalim Junction after receiving reports of dangerous driving.

Officers said several motorcyclists attempted to evade a police roadblock, with one rider losing control of his scooter and crashing while attempting to escape.

The rider was detained after police discovered he was allegedly driving without a valid licence or insurance. His scooter was removed from the road.

Police have not publicly established that displaying Ra'am flags constituted an offence, and the total number of arrests remains unclear.

The incident comes amid attempts by Netanyahu's governing coalition to exclude Palestinian political parties from Israel's parliamentary elections on 27 October.

On 23 September, Israel's Central Elections Committee, dominated by Netanyahu's coalition, voted 18-5 to disqualify both Ra'am and the Joint List, an alliance comprising Hadash, Ta'al and Balad.

Netanyahu's Likud and Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) were among the parties that formally petitioned to exclude Ra'am, alleging links to organisations associated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ra'am rejected the allegations, maintaining that there was no evidence it supported armed struggle against Israel.

Israel's Supreme Court unanimously overturned the bans on 2 October, ruling that the evidence presented did not meet the legal threshold for disqualifying the parties.

However, the court indicated that it was prepared to uphold the exclusion of Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh over comments he made about the 7 October 2023 attacks, prompting him to withdraw his candidacy.

The effort to exclude Abu Shehadeh also received support from opposition parties, demonstrating that attempts to restrict Palestinian political representation have extended beyond Netanyahu's governing coalition.

Opposition parties have also supported attempts to disqualify Jewish Hadash politician Ofer Cassif, a vocal critic of Israel's war on Gaza.

The controversy is particularly striking given Ra'am's history of cooperation with Israeli governments.

Ra'am became the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition in 2021, helping bring Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid to power and ending Netanyahu's 12 consecutive years as prime minister.

However, the decision provoked fierce criticism from other Palestinian political parties, particularly Hadash and Balad, which accused Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas of abandoning Palestinian national demands in favour of limited economic concessions.

Critics argued that participation in a government led by Bennett, a hard-right former settler leader who opposed Palestinian statehood, risked legitimising Israel's oppression of Palestinians.

Abbas defended his approach as a pragmatic means of securing investment, improving public services and addressing crime and discrimination affecting Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Despite its willingness to participate in Israeli coalition politics, Ra'am now finds itself among the parties targeted for exclusion from the forthcoming election.

The controversy comes as the participation of Palestinian political parties could prove significant in the formation of Israel's next government, with mainstream opposition leaders also divided over whether they would accept Arab parties as coalition partners.