Far-right extremists stormed the Beit Lid military court in Israel, where 9 soldiers are being held on charges of sexually abusing and torturing a Palestinian, and the Sde Teiman military base, where Palestinians detained in Gaza are being held.
A group, including Israeli far-right MKs, broke into the Sde Teiman military base, while another group raided the Beit Lid military court where 9 soldiers were being held. Following the incidents, there were calls for the far right to be removed from the Israeli administration.
In Israel, the news of the arrest of 9 Israeli soldiers accused of torturing and sexually abusing Palestinians in the Sde Teiman prison, where Gaza detainees are held, and what happened afterwards became the political agenda in the country.
After the news of the arrest was reported in the press, a group of dozens of far-right demonstrators, including far-right MKs, forcibly entered the Sde Teiman military base and organised a raid. Pictures in the Israeli press showed the soldiers’ efforts to prevent the far-right MK Zvi Sukkot, who was trying to enter the base, from opening the chained door of the base.
The crowd then forced the soldiers who were trying to hold the iron gate of the military base and entered the base. The moments when the demonstrators rushed into the military base and the soldiers tried to stop some of them, as well as images of the brawl and the chaos, took place on social media.
According to army radio, some armed and uniformed reserve soldiers also arrived in the area to support the protesters.
The crisis that began in Sde Teiman spread to the Beit Lid military base, where the arrested soldiers were taken for interrogation and where the military court is located.
According to reports in the Israeli press, a group of about 100 Israeli right-wing extremists entered the Beit Lid military base. Pictures in the press and on social media showed a scuffle between the demonstrators who broke into the military court and the soldiers who tried to stop them.
Israeli soldiers and police could be seen trying to remove the demonstrators from the military base.
The right-wing extremists who were removed from the Beit Lid military court continued their demonstrations outside the detention centre of the military base. Israeli right-wing extremist groups smashed the iron gate in the section where the military prison is located. Israeli soldiers used water cannons sprayed from the military base to disperse the demonstrators from the area.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the raid on the base and called for calm.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right extremist, said he had ordered police to take action against law-breakers.
Israel’s Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, also reportedly arrived at the military base in the region. Halevi said: “We came to Beit Lid to make sure that nothing more serious will happen. The attempts of the rebels to infiltrate the bases are serious behaviour that violates the law, amounts to anarchy and harms the Israeli forces, the security of the state and the war effort”.
Far-right coalition members under fire
Former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli opposition, criticised ‘extremist figures who call for violence’ within the ruling coalition in a post on his social media account, saying that Israel needs a government that makes responsible decisions.
Gantz stated that those who carried out the raid did not represent Israelis as an ‘extremist minority’ and shared the following statements: ‘The absolute majority of Israeli citizens are against violence and chaos’.
Noting that the presence of those who incite this violence within the coalition is a red line, Gantz said: ‘In order to face the difficult conditions, extremists must be isolated from the head of the administration, this government and the prime minister must be replaced. Israel deserves a responsible government that can lead us to victory over our enemies and ensure unity among us,” Gantz concluded.
‘Prevent the disintegration of the state and the army’
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who issued a statement after the raid, called on the government to prevent the disintegration of the state and the army.
Bennett, who was Israel’s prime minister in 2021-2022, said in a written statement published on the X platform: ‘Stop this madness immediately.
Referring to the attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights on 27 July, Bennett said: “Our enemies are attacking us from all sides, and a handful of rebels are storming a military base in order to destroy the Israeli army, the rule of law and our country. They want to dismember the only Jewish state in the world. You will either ignore the chaos or encourage it”.
Bennett claimed that what happened had nothing to do with the Hamas fighters held in the military base, but rather that they were savages who deserved to be subjected to the maximum punishment and hardship that Israeli law allows: “The problem is with us, do we want a state here or militias that act as they please?”
Bennett stressed that the uprisings and riots are the greatest gift to Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and other enemies of the country, adding that everyone must immediately stop the uprising, leave the military zone and abide by the law.
F”irst of all, I call on the members of the Israeli government to show real leadership,” Bennett said, calling on the Netanyahu government not to allow the rioters, not to pour petrol on the fire and to prevent the disintegration of the State of Israel.
‘Ministers involved in raid should be fired immediately’
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, also on his X account, commented on the events saying: “We are not on the edge of hell, we are in hell itself”.
Lapid said that all red lines had been crossed today and stressed that the message of the MPs and ministers who took part in the occupation of the military base by the angry militias was that ‘they are tired of democracy and the rule of law’.
“The dangerous fascist group threatens Israel’s existence,” Lapid said of the officials who took part in the raid on the military bases.
Lapid said that the ministers involved in the raid should be fired immediately and stressed that the prime minister should take action, saying: ‘If Netanyahu doesn’t do this, he is not fit to be the head of Israel.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was also among those to react to the developments.
In a statement posted on his official X account, Herzog said: ‘This is a state of law’ and called on all MPs to calm down immediately.
In his statement, Herzog said: “We are experiencing one of the most difficult and challenging weeks in terms of security, we must no longer burden our soldiers and leaders. Let us support the Israeli army and its leaders, let us defend the army against any calls that would please our enemies”.
