HRF & Center for Constitutional Rights Call on NY Attorney General to Investigate Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir in Advance of July 8 Visit

2 July 2026, New York — In light of consistent inaction from the U.S. Department of Justice with respect to The Hind Rajab Foundation’s urgent request for prosecution of Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights have submitted a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James to urge her to meet with New York victims of Ben-Gvir’s crimes and initiate an investigation of Ben-Gvir under New York State criminal law in anticipation of his visit to New York City on July 7-8. 

The letter argues that because a number of New York residents have been harmed by Ben-Gvir’s criminal conduct and because Ben-Gvir may also be engaging in criminal conduct while in New York, Attorney General James has the authority and the obligation to commence a criminal investigation into Ben-Gvir. 

Specifically, the letter cites: 

1. Torture and abuse by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) under Ben-Gvir’s authority against New York residents, including one Palestinian American subjected to starvation and other torture methods while detained in an Israeli prison, and ten participants in the 2025 and 2026 Global Sumud Flotillas, who were subjected to torture and abuse, both directly by Ben-Gvir and by officers operating under his authority, after they were illegally detained in international waters.  
2. Ben-Gvir’s distribution of gun permits and weapons to Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank in furtherance of Israel’s policies of apartheid and violent dispossession. 
3. Ben-Gvir’s direct incitement to genocide, which has resulted in concrete genocidal actions against Palestinians within the IPS, Gaza, and the Occupied West Bank.

The letter further argues that, given Ben-Gvir’s actions in these three areas of responsibility, there are reasonable grounds to believe that he has committed at least nine different crimes under the New York Penal Code. 

The Hind Rajab Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights have further urged Attorney General James to: 

• Convene and lead an interdivisional effort to identify New York residents that actively served in the Israeli armed forces since October 7, 2023, identify the perpetrators of Israeli atrocity crimes and assess those crimes' impact on New York residents;
• Establish an Atrocity Crimes Accountability Task Force in the Criminal Justice Division responsible for investigating atrocity crimes  perpetrated by or against New York residents in Gaza or the occupied West Bank.

The Hind Rajab Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights expressed their willingness to facilitate this process and reiterated their commitment to holding Ben-Gvir accountable for his crimes and to bringing justice to the victims.

“Jake Romm, the Hind Rajab Foundation’s representative in the U.S., stated, “Since the beginning of the present genocide, the U.S. Department of Justice has met our requests for prosecution with consistent silence and inaction in direct contravention of the U.S.’s international and domestic legal obligations. If the federal government is going to continue to deny justice for victims of Israeli atrocities—even when those victims are U.S. nationals—then it is up to U.S. states to provide their own avenues for accountability instead.”

“Itamar Ben-Gvir is a far-right, ultranationalist Israeli politician and hardline Israeli settlement leader who serves in the Israeli cabinet, brashly resorting to extreme racist rhetoric, glorification of violence, and incitement,” said Brad Parker, Associate Director of Policy at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Ben-Gvir’s actions amount to atrocity crimes against Palestinians, for which Israeli officials like Ben-Gvir enjoy near complete impunity. When Trump is complicit and works to foster that impunity, it is imperative that New York State officials act to challenge it.”

Itamar Ben Gvir is one of the principal architects and promoters of the ongoing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people. The harm that he has caused extends beyond Palestine and has directly impacted New Yorkers. Attorney General James now has the opportunity—and obligation—to ensure that New York does not become a safe haven for perpetrators of grave atrocity crimes.