National Union (Israel) - Controversy

Controversy

National Union has come under scrutiny for its sympathy towards right-wing "price-tag" militants, who have engaged in vandalist activities targeting both the state of Israel as well as Palestinians, including siding with such militants in clashes with Israeli authorities. When a group of "hilltop youth" militants attacked an Israeli army base in late 2011, MK Uri Ariel protested Israeli officials who called the group "terrorists", and condemned calls for the use of lethal force to repel such attacks in the future. In January 2012, Ariel admitted to giving IDF troop movement information to such militants in order to facilitate disruption of army activities.

In 2009, MK Michael Ben-Ari was arrested after interfering with police attempts to arrest a settler who had been rioting against Palestinians in protest of proposed settlement evacuations. In March 2011, Ben-Ari criticized arrests of settlers who had thrown stones at the police in order to block the service of an arrest warrant, comparing Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to Muammar Gaddafi and declaring that "his days are numbered."

In 2012, MK Aryeh Eldad and MK Michael Ben-Ari sparked controversy by calling for asylum seekers entering Israel to be shot.

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