Israel: head of unit that executed Palestinians promoted

The commander of the Israeli Border Police unit responsible for the killing of two unarmed Palestinians has been promoted to colonel by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, according to the Middle East Eye and agencies on December 1st.

The incident occurred on November 27th in Jenin when three members of the undercover unit purportedly shot and killed two Palestinian men, who appeared to surrender before being fired upon.

Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Jewish Power Party, called for investigations into the killings to end and referred to the unarmed men as “terrorists.”

In a video statement, he said: “This distorted procedure, according to which when our fighter shoots a terrorist, he is taken directly to investigation, must end.”

The statement is seemingly part of a broader shift in Israeli politics towards an increasingly nationalist regime. Ben-Gvir is a prominent supporter of a bill that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on “nationalistic grounds.” The bill passed its first reading in the Knesset and requires two subsequent readings to become law.

The bill appears to exclusively apply to Palestinians convicted of “terrorism”, a label that Ben-Gvir has applied to officials within the Palestinian Authority.

However, it is unclear if Ben-Gvir’s designation of officials as “terrorists” would make them eligible for the death penalty under the proposed amendment to the penal code.

It was reported on October 24th, that footage emerged of Ben-Gvir standing in front of a cell containing shackled Palestinian detainees, in which he told the camera that Palestinian detainees “deserve a death penalty law.”

Ben-Gvir’s open contempt for Palestinian life led a number of nations, including the UK, to impose sanctions on him and his colleague, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

In October, both men reportedly signed a letter urging Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli prisoners convicted of killing Palestinians, including one man who killed a Palestinian family in 2015.

Ben-Gvir has been known to glorify extremists, including Meir Kahane, founder of the now-banned Kach movement. A portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Muslim worshippers in 1994, is believed to have once been in Ben-Gvir’s living room.

Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org