National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered police officers not to attend a Wednesday Knesset committee meeting on the topic of Haymanut Kassau because MK Gilad Kariv "spoke not nicely" to a police officer, Mako reported.
Kariv responded to Ben-Gvir in a letter, calling the order illegal. He also stated that they could not "play games" with the family's emotions, and threatened to turn to the Supreme Court if the police continued not to respect the Knesset.
In a post on X/Twitter, Kariv stated that Ben-Gvir's actions were "unbelievably arrogant" toward Haymanut's family, who had arrived from Safed to attend the meeting.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the "inflated balloon"
"It seems that for Itamar Ben-Gvir - the inflated balloon - there is nothing which is above politics."
"We came here to get answers, and it saddens us that the Israel Police were not present at the meeting to provide them," said Kasau's father, Tespay. He has spent the last two years searching for his daughter, including a recent trip to the West Bank after receiving an indication that she might be there.
MK Pnina Tamano-Shata also commented on Ben-Gvir's refusal to send police to the meeting, stating that she was embarrassed about their absence. "To my mind, the Israel Police is trying to lower the pressure from the public around Haymanut's kidnapping," she said. She also directed a command towards Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head, David Zini, asking him to intervene in the investigation.