An Israeli minister has been called a “war criminal” in an extraordinary row with protesters inside the US Capitol.
Itamar Ben-Gvir travelled to Washington on Tuesday, where he met with a series of members of Congress as part of a wider trip to the country.
But between meetings, he was confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters who called him a “war criminal”, “responsible for genocide” and a “racist pig”.
The ultranationalist settler leader responded by telling the protesters: “You kill baby!”
Mr Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician who was once on the fringes of Israeli politics and wants to intensify the war in Gaza, shouted at the protesters again in a fiery back-and-forth.
“You are supposed to be in the Hague,” the protester says in videos of the confrontation at one point – referring to International Criminal Court warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
Mr Ben-Gvir’s trip to the US was met with protests elsewhere too, with a man hiding in a bathroom for two hours at a Manhattan steakhouse just to jump out on him and shout: “Get the f*** out of New York!”
Who is Ben-Gvir?
A hard-line supporter of Jewish settlements, Mr Ben-Gvir was previously convicted in Israel of racist incitement and support for terrorist groups.
Someone waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Mr Ben-Gvir. Pic: Reuters/Michelle McLoughlin
He has called for the deportation of all Arab citizens from Israel and, for years, hung a picture in his home of a man who massacred more than two dozen Muslim worshippers.
Mr Ben-Gvir also visited the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn, where he was greeted by scores more protesters who waved Palestinian flags.
‘They threatened to rape me’
During this visit, a Brooklyn woman was left fearing for her life after a mob of orthodox Jews mistook her for a protester and kicked her, spat on her, pelted her with objects and chased her.
The assault was recorded on camera by bystanders.
She said she only stepped outside to investigate the noise of the protest, before being set up by the crowd. Pic: AP
Crowds of orthodox Jews chased a woman through the streets of New York, kicking her, spitting on her and pelting her with objects. Pic: AP
The woman, a local in her 30s, only came outside after hearing police helicopters and not wanting to be filmed, she covered her face with a scarf.
“As soon as I pulled up my scarf, a group of 100 men came over immediately and encircled me,” said the woman.
“They were shouting at me, threatening to rape me, chanting ‘death to Arabs’. I thought the police would protect me from the mob, but they did nothing to intervene,” she added.
As the chants grew, a lone police officer intervened to try to escort her to safety, but they were followed by hundreds of men shouting in Hebrew and English.
“This is America,” one of the men can be heard saying. “We got Israel. We got an army now.”
The woman was helped by one lone policeman. Pic: AP
Eventually, the officer got her into a police vehicle and drove her away.
A police spokesperson said one person was arrested and five others were issued summons following the protests.
However, it wasn’t clear whether this included anyone involved in assaulting the woman.
A Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman, Rabbi Motti Seligson, denounced both the anti-Ben-Gvir protesters and the mob that chased the woman.
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‘I responded!’
In response to the protests that dogged Mr Ben-Gvir during his trip, he took to social media to share an image of himself in the Capitol.
He said: “Between meetings, several pro-Palestinian protesters began shouting pro-Hamas and Gaza slogans at me.
“I responded by saying that they were supporting the murderers, just like on 9/11 – we will defeat them!”
Meanwhile, within Gaza, Israel’s total blockade of aid into the enclave has entered its second month, with the UN’s food agency warning its stocks of food had now run out.
So far this week, the bodies of 51 people killed and 113 injured were brought to hospitals in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
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There has also been increased scrutiny of Israel’s treatment of aid workers in recent weeks – as it released a medic it held prisoner since Israeli troops killed 15 aid workers.
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