Itamar Ben-Gvir
אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר
Ben-Gvir smiling, wearing a suit and kippah
Ben-Gvir in 2022
Ministerial roles
2022–Minister of National Security
Faction represented in the Knesset
2021–2022Religious Zionist Party
2022–Otzma Yehudit
Personal details
Born (1976-05-06) 6 May 1976
Mevaseret Zion, Israel
Political partyOtzma Yehudit
SpouseAyala Nimrodi
Children6[1]
EducationOno Academic College

Itamar Ben-Gvir (Hebrew: אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli lawyer and far-right[2][3] politician who has served as the Minister of National Security since 2022.[4] He is a member of the Knesset and leader of Otzma Yehudit.[5][6]

Ben-Gvir, a settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has faced charges of hate speech against Arabs and was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-American mass murderer and Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others in Hebron, in the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. He removed the portrait after he entered politics.[6] He was also previously convicted of supporting a terrorist group known as Kach, which espoused Kahanism, an extremist religious Zionist ideology.[7]

Under his leadership, the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a party which espouses Kahanism and anti-Arabism, won six seats in the 2022 Israeli legislative election, and is represented in what has been called the most right-wing and hardline government in Israel's history.[8][9][10][11] He has called for the expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel who are not loyal to Israel.[11] Ben Gvir is "widely known for his openly racist, anti-Arab views and activities".[12] Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz has said Ben Gvir represents "Jewish fascism".[13]

Ben Gvir had been long accused of being a provocateur, having previously led several visits to the Temple Mount as activist and member of Knesset, contentious marches through Jerusalem's Old City Muslim Quarter, and set up an office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood which witnessed several evictions of Palestinians.[14] On 3 January 2023, he visited the Temple Mount where the al-Aqsa Mosque is located, spurring an international wave of criticism that labelled his visit purposely provocative.[14] As a lawyer, he is known for defending Jewish terrorists on trial in Israel.[15]

Early life

Itamar Ben-Gvir was born in Mevaseret Zion. His father was born in Jerusalem to Iraqi Jewish immigrants. He worked at a gasoline company and dabbled in writing. His mother was a Kurdish Jewish immigrant who had been active in the Irgun as a teenager and was a homemaker. His family was secular, but as a teenager, he adopted religious and radical right-wing views during the First Intifada. He first joined a right-wing youth movement affiliated with Moledet, a party which advocated transferring Arabs out of Israel, and then joined the youth movement of the even more radical Kach and Kahane Chai party, which was eventually designated as a terrorist organization and outlawed by the Israeli government.[16][17] He became youth coordinator of Kach, and claimed that he was detained at age 14. When he came of age for conscription into the Israel Defense Forces at 18, he was exempted from service by the IDF due to his extreme-right political background.[18][15]

Ben-Gvir continued to be associated with the Kahanist movement;[19] Otzma Yehudit is said to be Kach's ideological successor.[20] However, when forming the Otzma Yehudit party, he claimed that it would not be a Kach, Kahane Chai or splinter group.[21] He carried out a series of far-right activities that have resulted in dozens of indictments. In a November 2015 interview, he claimed to have been indicted 53 times.[22] In most cases, the charges were thrown out of court.[15] In 2007, however, he was convicted for incitement to racism.[23][24]

In the 1990s, he was active in protests against the Oslo Accords. In 1995, Ben-Gvir came to public attention for the first time, when he appeared on television brandishing a Cadillac hood ornament that had been stolen from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's car, and declared: "We got to his car, and we'll get to him too." Several weeks later, Rabin was assassinated by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir.[15][25]

Ben Gvir demonstrating against the cease fire on Gaza during the 2014 Gaza War.

Ben-Gvir sometimes represented himself during his many indictments, and at the suggestion of several judges, he decided to study law. Ben-Gvir studied law at the Ono Academic College.[15] At the end of his studies, the Israel Bar Association blocked him from taking the bar exam on grounds of his criminal record. Ben-Gvir claimed the decision was politically motivated. After a series of appeals, this decision was overturned, but it was ruled that Ben-Gvir would first have to settle three criminal cases in which he was charged at the time. After being acquitted in all three cases on charges including holding an illegal gathering and disturbing a civil servant, Ben-Gvir was allowed to take the exam. He passed the written and oral examinations, and was granted a license to practice law.[26][27]

As a lawyer, Ben-Gvir has represented a series of far-right Jewish activists suspected of terrorism and hate crimes. Notable clients include Benzi Gopstein and two teenagers charged in the Duma arson attack. Haaretz described Ben-Gvir as the "go-to man" for Jewish extremists facing legal trouble, and reported that his client list "reads like a 'Who's Who' of suspects in Jewish terror cases and hate crimes in Israel".[15] Ben-Gvir is also the lawyer for Lehava, a far-right Israeli anti-assimilation organization which is active in opposing Jewish intermarriage with non-Jews,[28][29] and has sued the waqf.[30][31][32]

Ben-Gvir says that his work as a lawyer for far-right Jewish activists is motivated by a desire to help them, and not for money.[15]

Political career

Ben-Gvir was the parliamentary assistant in the 18th Knesset for Michael Ben-Ari.[21] On 23 July 2017, he was part of the leadership of a protest that included dozens of people outside of the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem. The protest was held by both Lehava and Otzma Yehudit.[33]

On 25 February 2019, Ben-Gvir said that Arab citizens of Israel who were not loyal to Israel "must be expelled".[9]

Prior to entering office Ben-Gvir was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-American mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others in Hebron, in the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre;[6][34] he removed the portrait in preparation for the 2020 Israeli legislative election in hope of being allowed to run on the unified right list headed by Naftali Bennett.[35]

Ben-Gvir had planned to run for a seat in the Knesset in the September 2019 Israeli legislative election in the first slot of a combined Noam/Otzma Yehudit electoral list,[36] though the two parties split over Otzma's inclusion of a secular candidate on the combined list (which Noam disagreed with).[37] Ben-Gvir was in the third slot[38] of a joint list that includes Otzma Yehudit, Noam and the Religious Zionist Party that ran in the 2021 Israeli legislative election.[39] He was elected to the Knesset as the alliance won six seats.[40]

Ben-Gvir with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, 10 November 2022

In May 2021, he was reported to be frequenting the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in a show of solidarity with Jewish settlers who live there.[41]

In October 2021, Ben-Gvir and Joint List leader Ayman Odeh had a physical confrontation during a visit to the Kaplan Medical Center to see Miqdad Qawasmeh, a Hamas operative who had been on a hunger strike for over three months of his administrative detention. Ben-Gvir was against Qawasmeh being treated in an Israeli hospital, and stated that he had visited to check the detainee's conditions, as well as to "see up close this miracle that a person remains alive despite not eating for several months". As Ben-Gvir attempted to enter Qawasmeh's room, he accused Odeh of being a terrorist for supporting extremists like Qawasmeh. Odeh then struck first, pushing Ben-Gvir, and the pair began to scuffle before being separated by bystanders.[42] Ben-Gvir later filed a complaint against Odeh, claiming that he had "committed a serious criminal act".[43]

In December 2021, Ben-Gvir was investigated after a video surfaced of him pulling a handgun on Arab security guards during a parking dispute in the underground garage of the Expo Tel Aviv conference center. The guards asked Ben-Gvir to move his vehicle as he was parked in a prohibited space. He then drew a pistol and brandished it at the guards.[44] Both parties taunted each other, and Ben-Gvir claimed that he felt his life threatened. The guards were unarmed.[45] He was criticized by lawmakers across the aisle, and the incident was investigated.[46]

Ben-Gvir with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 6 March 2023

In January 2022, his level of security was increased. Due to frequent death threats, Ben-Gvir is accompanied by multiple security guards in public, and extra security measures are taken to ensure his safety.[47]

In October 13, 2022, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Ben-Gvir took part in the clashes between Israeli Jewish settlers and the local Palestinian residents, brandishing a gun, telling the police to shoot at Palestinians throwing stones at the scene, and yelling at them that "We're the landlords here, remember that, I am your landlord."[48] This was a message that was later repeated by him in a tweet on the morning after the 2022 election in his victory tweet.[49]

In the 2022 Israeli legislative election, Ben-Gvir's party had an unprecedented success, more than doubling its votes from the last legislative election, thus becoming the 3rd largest party in the 25th Knesset.[50][51] Ben-Gvir and his party entered a Netanyahu-led government. It was reported in late November 2022 that Ben-Gvir would head the newly created National Security Ministry, whose duties would include overseeing the Israel Border Police in the West Bank.[52]

On 3 January 2023, Ben Gvir, as national security minister, visited the Temple Mount, which prompted a wave of international criticism from the United States, European Union, and Arab countries including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who termed his visit as provocative and called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites.[14] Ben Gvir had been long accused of being a provocateur, having previously led several visits to the Temple Mount as activist and member of Knesset, contentious marches through Jerusalem's Old City Muslim Quarter, and set up an office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood which witnessed Israeli-Palestinian tensions.[14]

In August 2023 he stated "My right, and my wife's and my children's right, to get around on the roads in Judea and Samaria is more important than the right to movement for Arabs".[53] These comments were condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the US State Department as racist. The PA condemned "the racist and heinous remarks by Israel's fascist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, which only confirms Israel's apartheid regime of Jewish supremacy and racial terror against the Palestinian people".[54]

In early October 2023, following the arrest of 5 ultra-Orthodox Heredi Jews for spitting at Christians and outside churches, Ben-Gvir said it was "not a criminal case" following arrests.[55] Prior to entering politics, he defended Jews spitting at Christians as "an ancient Jewish custom".[56] After the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Ben Gvir said that "Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult events in its history. This is not the time for questions, tests and investigations."[57]

In November 2023 he declared that "when they say that Hamas needs to be eliminated, it also means those who sing, those who support and those who distribute candy, all of these are terrorists."[58][59] On 1 January 2024, Ben-Gvir said that the war with Hamas presented an "opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza."[60] He has stated that "We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing".[61]

As minister, Ben-Gvir worked to loosen Israel's firearm-ownership regulations.[62]

Personal life

Ben-Gvir is married to Ayala Nimrodi, a distant relative of Ofer Nimrodi, the former owner of the Maariv daily newspaper. The couple has five children, and they live in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba/Hebron, which is deemed illegal under international law, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.[15]

Ben Gvir sued his father's caregiver, a foreign worker from Sri Lanka, for 100,000 NIS after he asked for severance pay from him and his brother, after Ben Gvir's father died. Ben Gvir's claim was that his father died because the worker went on a vacation. The court ruled that Ben Gvir and his brother would pay the foreign worker around 100,000 NIS as their father's heirs.[63]

References

  1. ↑ "Ben Gvir's wife: Yes, I carry a gun, 'deal with it'". The Times of Israel. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "Itamar Ben-Gvir: Israeli far-right leader set to join new coalition". BBC News. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "Far-right Ben-Gvir to be Israel's national security minister". AP NEWS. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Far-right extremist gets Israeli security job as coalition deals struck". The Guardian. Reuters. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Otzma Yehudit leaders attack Jewish Home over Amona". Israel National News. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Israel's far-right leader Ben-Gvir wins adoring young fans". France24.com. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Toosi, Nahal (20 December 2022). "Biden's strategy for a far-right Israel: Lay it all on Bibi". Politico. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Keller-Lynn, Carrie (29 December 2022). "Netanyahu returns as PM, wins Knesset support for Israel's most hardline government". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  9. 1 2 Kelman, Aaron (27 January 2013). "Arab town doesn't love anti-Arab party". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Ahren, Raphael (18 February 2015). "The extremist who could bring Kahanism back to the Knesset". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 Magid, Jacob (24 February 2019). "Otzma Yehudit candidate: Critics have to go back 30 years in order to attack us". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  12. ↑ Hermann, Tamar (2022). "The Religions Zionist Sector at Bay". Religions. 13 (2): 178. doi:10.3390/rel13020178.
  13. ↑ Illouz, Eva (15 November 2022). "La troisième force politique en Israël représente ce que l'on est bien obligé d'appeler, à contrecœur, un "fascisme juif"". Le Monde (in French).
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Wave of international criticism after Ben Gvir visits flashpoint Temple Mount". The Times of Israel. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Maltz, Judy (4 January 2016). "The Lawyer for Jewish Terrorists Who Started Out by Stealing Rabin's Car Emblem". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Elisheva (5 November 2012). "'Kahane For Kids'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  17. ↑ McKernan, Bethan (2 November 2022). "Benjamin Netanyahu thanks voters as exit poll puts him ahead in Israel election". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  18. ↑ Ben-Dor, Calev (September 2022). "The Rise of Itamar Ben Gvir". Fathom. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  19. ↑ Rettig Gur, Haviv (23 February 2021). "Kahane lives? What does Itamar Ben Gvir, backed by Netanyahu, really stand for?". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  20. ↑ Sharon, Jeremy (4 August 2022). "Understanding the ominous rise of Israel's most notorious ultra-nationalist". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  21. 1 2 Harkov, Lahav (28 October 2012). "The new Kach? Ben-Ari, Marzel, Ben Gvir form party". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  22. ↑ "פרק 8: סיבוב בחברון עם מרזל ובן גביר". ערוץ 7 (in Hebrew). 5 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Lefkovits, Etgar (25 June 2007). "Ben-Gvir convicted of inciting to racism". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  24. ↑
  25. ↑ Hendrix, Steve; Rubin, Shira (28 October 2022). "Israel election: A far-right politician moves closer to power". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "איתמר בן גביר לא יוכל להתמחות כעורך דין". וואלה! חדשות (in Hebrew). 19 January 2011.
  27. ↑ "בתום מאבק ממושך: איתמר בן גביר - עו"ד". Makor Rishon (in Hebrew). 21 June 2012.
  28. ↑ Winer, Stuart (16 December 2014). "Police arrest head of anti-assimilation group Lehava". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  29. ↑ "Police blacklist LGBT parade protesters". Israel National News. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  30. ↑ Hadar, Reut (12 August 2016). "Are police afraid of Itamar Ben-Gvir?". Israel National News. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  31. ↑ McKernan, Bethan (29 October 2022). "Itamar Ben-Gvir: fiery far-right leader gains traction before Israeli election". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  32. ↑ Pfeffer, Anshel (27 November 2022). "Far-right Leader Ben-Gvir Will Bring Out the Worst of Israel's Police". Haaretz. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  33. ↑ Aharon, Eliran (23 July 2017). "'The people expect vengeance'". Israel National News. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  34. ↑ Harkov, Lahav (25 February 2019). "Netanyahu's deflection of his involvement with Otzma - analysis". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  35. ↑ "בן גביר: "הסרתי את תמונת גולדשטיין כדי למנוע ממשלת שמאל"". Ynet (in Hebrew). 15 January 2020.
  36. ↑ Hacohen, Hagay (31 July 2019). "Noam, Otzma Yehudit to run together in September elections". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  37. ↑ Baruch, Hezki (1 August 2019). "Otzma Yehudit and Noam cancel joint run". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  38. ↑ Staff writer (3 February 2021). "Israel Election 2021: All the Official Party Lists So Far". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  39. ↑ Staff writer (3 February 2021). "Religious Zionist, Otzma Yehudit parties to run together". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  40. ↑ Wootliff, Raoul; Magid, Jacob (26 March 2021). "Reform rabbi, Kahanist agitator, firebrand writer: The new Knesset's 16 rookies". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  41. ↑ "PM's office reportedly warned Ben-Gvir to leave East J'lem after threat of Hamas rocket attack". i24 News. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  42. ↑ "Ayman Odeh, Itamar Ben Gvir clash at hospital by Palestinian prisoner's bed". The Times of Israel. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  43. ↑ Breiner, Josh (14 January 2022). "Arab-Israeli Leader to Be Probed for Shoving Kahanist Lawmaker". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  44. ↑ Shimoni, Ran; Khoury, Jack (22 December 2021). "Kahanist Lawmaker Pulls Gun on Arab Security Guard Who Asked Him to Move Car". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  45. ↑ Winer, Stuart (22 December 2021). "Far-right MK Ben Gvir pulls gun on Arab security guards in clash over parking". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  46. ↑ Winer, Stuart (22 December 2021). "Far-right MK Ben Gvir summoned by Knesset security over gun incident in parking lot". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  47. ↑ "Police increase security around far-right MK Ben Gvir amid death threats". The Times of Israel. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  48. ↑ "Extremist MK Ben Gvir Pulls out Gun during Sheikh Jarrah Clash". The Times of Israel. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  49. ↑ איתמר בן גביר [@itamarbengvir] (2 November 2022). "בוקר טוב עם ישראל! הגיע הזמן לממשלת ימין על מלא מלא. הגיע הזמן להיות בעלי הבית במדינה שלנו!" [Good morning with Israel! The time has come for a full-fledged right-wing government. It's time to be the landlord in our country!] (Tweet) (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  50. ↑ Election Israel official Result Website, National results of the 25th Knesset Election https://votes25.bechirot.gov.il/nationalresults
  51. ↑ Bachner, Michael (2 November 2022). "With 86% of votes tallied, Netanyahu headed for decisive comeback victory". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  52. ↑ TOI Staff (25 November 2022). "Ben Gvir to get newly created role of national security minister in deal with Likud". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  53. ↑ "Ben Gvir says his right to be safe in West Bank outweighs Arabs' freedom of movement". The Times of Israel. 24 August 2023.
  54. ↑ Bateman, Tom (25 August 2023). "US condemns Israeli minister Ben Gvir's 'inflammatory' Palestinian comments". BBC.
  55. ↑ Frankel, Julia (4 October 2023). "Israeli police arrest suspects for spitting near Christian pilgrims and churches in Jerusalem". AP News. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  56. ↑ "5 arrested for spitting at Christians in Jerusalem; police minister: It's not criminal". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  57. ↑ Gordon, Neve (11 October 2023). "Can Netanyahu survive Hamas's attack on Israel?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  58. ↑ "Anyone who supports Hamas should be eliminated: Israeli minister". Middle East Monitor. 12 November 2023.
  59. ↑ "No way to evacuate babies to a safer hospital: Gaza health ministry". The Business Standard. 12 November 2023.
  60. ↑ "Israeli Officials' Calls For 'Voluntary' Migration Of Palestinians Alarm Human Rights Experts". HuffPost. 4 January 2024.
  61. ↑ Aleem, Zeeshan (7 January 2024). "What Israel's plan to 'encourage' migration out of Gaza is actually about". MSNBC.
  62. ↑ Keller-Lynn, Carrie (4 December 2023). "Ben Gvir: More than 260,000 people have applied for a gun license since October 7". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  63. ↑ "Report: After years of dining with his father, Ben-Gvir sued the foreign caregiver for 100,000 shekels - and lost". Walla News. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
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