An official with the Prime Minister's Office reportedly instructed Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, to vacate his makeshift office in the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Friday, so as not to trigger Hamas rocket fire on Israel.
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According to Channel 12 News, Ben-Gvir was told to pack up his "office" and leave the area immediately, as protests in the city escalated on Thursday and Friday.
The unnamed official reportedly warned the far-Right lawmaker that the defense establishment had received intelligence deemed credible enough, that if he did not leave Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip "could immediately fire rockets at Jerusalem."
Ben-Gvir, who asserts he set up an "office" – a table under an awning with a sign – in Sheikh Jarrah to protest what he said was lack of protection for Jewish families in the neighborhood, refused to leave until more officers were dispatched to the area.
"There will be a permanent [police] presence there. Get out of there as quickly as possible," the unnamed PMO official reportedly said.
The Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the report.
Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai over the weekend urged politicians not to further escalate tensions with unnecessary provocations on the ground or in the mdeia.
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