of Israel". During a protest demanding the government escalate the assault on Gaza, he repeated "Let the IDF kick ass!", before complaining, "Why is it that after 200 assaults only 15 were killed? It should be 15 assaults and 2,000 killed!" In July 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, he was cited as having argued that: "Those who pity their enemies end up being cruel to their own people. Those who are cruel to their enemies truly love their own people." Arrest On 1 June 2009, Ben-Ari was handcuffed and arrested after being involved in an incident near Yitzhar in the West Bank despite his parliamentary immunity as Member of Knesset. He climbed onto an army truck and refused to get off, demanding that the Israel Border Police and Israel Defense Forces soldiers explain to him why they had arrested and handcuffed minors at a roadblocking protest. Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin called the police commissioner and clarified that the police has no authority to arrest an MK without his approval. Yitzhak Aharonovich, the Internal Security Minister, justified the arrest, despite Ben Ari's parliamentary immunity, saying that he will not let MKs violate the law. Ben-Ari's response was to suggest that Aharonovich first verify the facts before coming to conclusions. The IDF Spokesman's office started an investigation into whether the IDF and Border Guard acted illegally in their treatment of Ben-Ari. On 16 June, the Knesset Committee discussed Ben-Ari's arrest. While the semantics of the word 'arrest' were discussed, it was confirmed that Ben-Ari was not incarcerated. It was reported that a letter from the Chief of General Staff's office stated that the IDF expects elected officials and public representatives not to fan the flames and to abide by instructions from the security forces. Chairman of the committee, Ze'ev Elkin from Likud, criticized the Ministry of Defense for boycotting the meeting and not sending representatives. 2019 election ban After an appeal by the Meretz party, the Supreme Court of Israel banned Ben-Ari from running in the election due to his extremist political views. He had been a candidate of the Otzma Yehudit party. Personal life Ben-Ari lives in the Israeli settlement of Karnei Shomron. He is married with nine children. His brother, Herzl Ben-Ari, is the former head of the Karnei Shomron Local Council. References External links Hamered Hagadol book first published in 2016 on the Great Revolt 1963 births Living people