'Attack Hezbollah, not me' Ben-Gvir tells Israel's Gallant after 'national security threat' claim

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency have both accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of endangering the country, in the latest clash between establishment figures and far-right ministers in Israel.

Gallant became the latest politician to take-aim at Ben-Gvir, following his participation in a raid of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex earlier this month by a group of Israeli Jewish settlers.

“In the face of minister Ben Gvir’s irresponsible actions that endanger the State of Israel’s national security and create an internal division in the nation, the head of the Shin Bet and his people are carrying out their duties and warning of the grave consequences of these acts," Gallant tweeted.

Earlier, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior ministers about the dangers such raids place on Israel's security, as well as the irresponsibility of Ben-Gvir, as a member of the Israeli government, in taking part in the assault.

"I’m writing you this letter in pain, great fear, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as a member of a security force about the growing phenomenon of Jewish terrorism from the Hilltop Youth," Bar wrote, referring to one of the most radical factions in the Israeli settler movement.

“The damage to the State of Israel, especially now and to the vast majority of the settlers, is indescribable: global delegitimization, even among our greatest allies."

Bar then listed the ways settler assaults, such as the ones on Al-Aqsa, empower Israel's enemies and stretch security forces, amid the ongoing war on Gaza.

The letter caused Ben-Gvir to call for Bar to be sacked in a high-level meeting, but the intelligence chief was reportedly backed by Netanyahu and Gallant leading to the extremist minister storming out of the room.

Ben-Gvir then took aim at Gallant via X, accusing him of being too soft on Hezbollah, following weeks of clashes on the Israeli border.

"You promised to return Lebanon to the Stone Age, meanwhile you’re returning the north to the Stone Age," he added, referring to the defence minister's previous comments, during a visit to Washington, that Israel could utterly destroy Lebanon.

While Israel continues to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, the government has faced international criticism for the violent pogroms carried out by extremist settlers, including one assault on a Palestinian village last week which killed a local man.

Shin Bet has used administrative detention orders, primarily used against Palestinians, to quell some of the worst outbreaks of violence by radicals but Ben-Gvir, as National Security Minister, still holds sweeping powers in the occupied West Bank, which he has used to empower Israeli settlers.

Israel's war on Gaza has seen the enclave completely decimated, with at least 40,265 Palestinians killed since 7 October.

More than 600 Palestinians in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the past 10 months.