Itamar Ben Gvir under fire: used police helicopter for private travel

The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, is sparking sharp criticism following his use in the last two days of a police helicopter for transportation from his private vacation in the north to events in the center of the country and back.

The police helicopter, which is routinely intended for operational activities, saving lives, and fighting crime, was scrambled specifically from the Latrun base to pick up the minister from a vacation rental in the north for a volunteer conference and a press statement in Tel Aviv. The next day, the vehicle flew him from a tour in Kafr Aqab back to his vacation in Nahariya. According to aviation sources, the cost of these flights is estimated at tens of thousands of shekels from the state treasury.

A senior police official harshly attacked the conduct and claimed that Ben Gvir uses the operational aircraft "like a private taxi," while there is silence and fear among the senior command to confront him. This is not the first time such a claim has arisen, after similar flights by the minister from his home in Kiryat Arba were documented in the past. This was reported in "Haaretz".

The current use raises many questions also in light of his position in the past: in 2022, Ben Gvir attacked the purchase of helicopters for the system and called it "waste" intended for personal needs. The office of Minister Ben Gvir and the Israel Police chose not to provide a response to the allegations.