Herzog slams ‘brutish’ settler violence, appears to pan Ben Gvir over prisoner abuse

President says ‘anarchist mob’ now ‘threatens us all,’ Israel must ‘draw red lines’; far-right minister says anyone calling Israelis ‘brutes’ is ‘not fit to be president’

President Isaac Herzog on Sunday sharply condemned Israeli settler violence in the West Bank as “brutishness” carried out by an “anarchist mob,” while appearing to take a shot at far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the treatment of prisoners in Israeli custody.

“We are witnesses to a wave of terrible violence that is being carried out by an anarchist mob,” Herzog said in a speech at a ceremony granting the Jerusalem Unity Prize, describing the near-daily acts of violence by Jewish extremists as “acts that defile and violate every basic moral, legal, and Jewish norm.”

“There are elements on the fringes of our society that have normalized violence, and, sadly, some go even further — celebrating it and taking pride in it,” he added.

“We must not tolerate this brutishness that comes from the margins of society and threatens us all,” Herzog continued, lamenting that Israeli security forces in the West Bank often spend “most of their time” dealing with Jewish extremist violence.

“Our people are a magnificent people, with tremendous strengths, but we must draw red lines,” he said. “I stand here and say it out loud: Unity begins with humanity.”

“We are exposed to degrading and ugly behavior by extremists against Christians and Muslims living among us,” Herzog added, saying it is as if “basic morality” and Jewish commandments “mean nothing to us.”

“We must not take the law into our own hands. We must not harm members of other religions and their symbols,” he said, presumably referring to the recent incidents of desecration of Christian symbols in Lebanon and the assault of a nun in Jerusalem.

Herzog also stressed that it must be “forbidden to abuse prisoners” no matter how terrible their crimes, saying: “We are exposed to barbaric acts by a handful of people who think that detainees, those under investigation, or suspects have no human rights whatsoever.”

Those comments were widely interpreted as referring to Ben Gvir’s video of himself tormenting activists detained from the Global Summit Flotilla, which sparked a diplomatic incident and warranted a rare rebuke of the far-right minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, alongside a torrent of international opprobrium.

Ben Gvir, who has authority over the Israel Prison Service and its policies, has also repeatedly boasted of the harsh conditions he has imposed on Palestinian detainees and prisoners, alongside reports of systematic abuse, deprivation, and neglect in Israeli prisons and detention facilities.

Responding to the speech, Ben Gvir called for Herzog’s ouster, writing on X: “A president who calls hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens brutes is not fit to be president. Full stop.”

Fellow Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer also slammed Herzog for the speech, posting on social media that “calling Israeli citizens ‘brutes’ is not only crossing a red line, but spitting in the face of millions of Israelis.”