Israel: The minister of national security of Israel Mr. Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces, calling the Palestinian national symbol an act of “terrorism.”

Even though Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags, police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where they deem there is a threat to public order.

The directive from Mr. Ben-Gvir, who leads the ultranationalist Jewish Power party in Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right government, is widely regarded as a hardline and uncompromising attitude towards Palestinian expressions of identity and free speech, as well as pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

“It cannot be that lawbreakers wave terrorist flags as well as incite and encourage terrorism, so I ordered the removal of flags supporting terrorism from the public space and to stop the incitement against Israel,” Mr. Ben-Gvir remarked.

The minister’s orders came after a mass anti-government protest in Tel Aviv, where protesters waved the Palestinian flag. The protesters claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s newly sworn-in government was “fascist” and that it advocated for equality as well as coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Mr. Netanyahu claimed in his Twitter post that the presence of the Palestinian flag at the Tel Aviv protest was “wild incitement.”

In addition, Mr. Ben-Gvir’s directive also follows the release of a long-serving Palestinian prisoner, convicted of kidnapping and killing an Israeli soldier in 1983, who waved a Palestinian flag while receiving a welcome event in his village in northern Israel.

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