Israel is the only meaningful democracy in the Middle East. This is as true today as it was last week. But the shameful scenes of far-right violence in response to the arrest of a group of soldiers is a gift to those who wish to undo it.

On Monday, dozens of hardline activists tried to disrupt the arrest of nine reservists detained as part of an investigation into ‘suspected substantial abuse of a Palestinian detainee’. They were accompanied by far-right politicians, who barged into an army base and occupied it for several hours.

A firebrand like Ben-Gvir is clearly the last thing Israel needs at a time like this

When the suspects were transported to the military police headquarters at Beit Lid, thugs – some masked soldiers with weapons, wearing the logo of Force 100, the unit to which the suspects are believed to belong – broke in once again, forcing officers to put up a barricade. Chaos ensued, only abating after the IDF chief of staff, Herzi Halevy, arrived at 11 p.m.

The top brass was forced to pause its planning for dealing with the threat from Hezbollah, which killed a dozen children on Sunday, to address the disturbances. Troops from the West Bank had to be redeployed to secure the facility at Beit Lid. Both Netanyahu and the defence minister, Yoav Gallant,........

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