From: Ovda with Avishai Raviv (Keshet 12)
Avishai Raviv, an ISA agent nicknamed "Champagne," spoke for the first time on Ovda on Tuesday. Raviv, who was employed for years as an undercover agent in the Jewish Brigade in Judea and Samaria, knew future National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during his many years of work.
During his years of service, Raviv moved to Kiryat Arba, where he first met Minister Ben-Gvir, who was 17 at the time. "For a few years we were tight," Raviv said, "He's a clever guy. He knows how to attract people."
"He always loved communication. He lives off the media. He knows what the media wants to hear, he knows what to say," he said of Ben-Gvir. Raviv said that during those years he participated together with Ben-Gvir in a hunger strike on the Temple Mount. "During the day we went on hunger strike on the Temple Mount and at night we ate," he recalls. "Within a second, the media got there, they were buying his gimmicks," he described.
Avishai Raviv (Photo: GettyImages)
Raviv, who grew up in a supportive Mapai home, came as a teenager to a rally of Kach supporters, where Rabbi Kahane spoke. "As for the Arabs, I didn't agree with him, but everyone around me really spoke to me," he said of his affiliation with the movement.
In preparation for his enlistment in the IDF, Raviv distanced himself from his comrades in the movement in order to achieve meaningful service. After two years of combat service in Givati, he was wounded and discharged from the army. "I wanted a military career and my dream was erased," he said. Then, he was approached by the Shin Bet and invited for an interview. After a few meetings, he joined the Jewish division of the organization.
On the eve of the interview broadcast, Ovda reporter Omri Esenheim and senior Ovda editorial board officials received a series of disturbing and threatening anonymous messages - Walla has learned! Berenger. The messages were sent yesterday, just before the broadcast of a segment from the program in which Avishai Raviv talks about Ben-Gvir.
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