JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir boasted about mistreating Arab Israelis inside their homes in the cities of Lod and Ramla in central Israel, a video showed on Thursday.

Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Jewish Power Party, posted a video on the US social media company X showing him storming homes belonging to Arab Israelis in both cities.

The footage shows residents, who are of Palestinian descent, forced to lie on the ground with their hands tied behind their heads and their eyes blindfolded.

The minister is also seen entering a family’s home where children and women are present.

Ben-Gvir wrote that he was “on a tour with special forces, police and Border Police in the Jawarish neighborhood in Ramla and a neighborhood in Lod.”

He claimed the arrests and raids were meant to confront what he called “the plague of widespread crime in the Arab community in Israel.”

Arab Israelis, who make up around 20% of the population, have long complained of systematic discrimination in all aspects of life.

The extremist minister, who is known for his anti-Palestinian rhetoric, regularly publishes videos showing his abuse of Palestinian citizens inside Israel.