Itamar Ben-Gvir: The face of Israel’s hard right — or the face of Israel?

In caller weeks, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has shown the satellite a mentation of “modern Israel” it had preferred not to see.

From telling the property that helium would “not allow” a United States ceasefire woody with Iran that was atrocious for Israel to his televised harassment of bound activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla, Ben-Gvir’s actions person drawn outrage connected a planetary stage.

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It had been convenient to formed the far-right person of the Jewish Power enactment arsenic a governmental outlier wrong Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. This allowed home critics of the far-right factions successful Israel to proceed supporting the government, and companies and countries extracurricular to proceed commercialized contempt increasing condemnations of the Israeli government.

After nationalist rebukes of Ben-Gvir’s taunting of the predominantly European activists by the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada – and adjacent Israel’s foremost allies successful the US – Netanyahu understood the heavy harm this was doing to Israel’s nationalist relations image, and described the spectacle arsenic “not successful enactment with Israel’s values and norms”.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar went further, releasing a connection accusing his chap furniture curate of knowingly causing harm to the authorities of Israel and claiming that Ben-Gvir was “not the look of Israel”.

It is simply a sentiment echoed by galore Israeli media outlets, anxious to abstracted the curate from the Israeli authorities and government, yet it appears evident that the other is true, and Ben-Gvir is the look of an progressively ascendant conception of Israeli society.

“He’s stupid, which tells america he’s not acting connected his own,” Knesset subordinate Aida Touma-Sliman of the left-wing Hadash enactment told Al Jazeera. “Everything he’s doing he’s doing with the assistance of different politicians and civilian servants who stock his beliefs. He wouldn’t beryllium capable to bash what helium does if they weren’t helping him.”

The right-wing extremist, provocateur and convicted inciter of violence has yet exerted unchallenged power implicit constabulary and situation forces since assuming the newly created role of National Security Minister successful 2022.

“If conscionable 1 policeman said no, you can’t politicise the constabulary force, that would beryllium it,” said Touma-Sliman. “If the caput of the situation work said no, you can’t starve, torture and sexually maltreatment prisoners, they wouldn’t, and that would beryllium it.”

Forged successful division

Ben-Gvir was hardly an chartless quantity erstwhile helium entered authorities successful 2022. His archetypal brushwood with nationalist prominence came successful 1995, aft Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to the Oslo Accords, a bid of agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which the satellite hoped was a way towards a two-state solution.

At the time, grinning to the camera, a 19-year-old Ben-Gvir was filmed brandishing the Cadillac hood ornament from Rabin’s car, declaring to the cameras: “We got to his car, we’ll get to him, too.”

Rabin was assassinated conscionable weeks aboriginal by right-wing extremist and ultranationalist Yigal Amir.

Born successful a tiny suburb westbound of Jerusalem successful 1976, Ben-Gvir claimed to the quality tract Mako successful 2021 that helium became spiritual astatine 12 and radicalised astatine 14 owed to what helium claimed was the unit of the First Intifada.

His teacher recalled that Ben-Gvir, similar galore different precocious schoolhouse students astatine the time, was openly supportive of the extremist Kach party, founded by the American-Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane.

Kach was banned successful 1988, aft judges recovered that the enactment breached law reforms implemented that year.

In 1994, it was designated a violent organisation aft a enactment member, Baruch Goldstein, explicitly referencing Kach politics, slaughtered dozens of Palestinian worshippers successful Hebron.

Goldstein became something of a motif for Ben-Gvir, who reportedly took his aboriginal woman to the killer’s sedate connected their archetypal date. Later, helium dressed arsenic the murderer for the Jewish vacation of Purim and displayed Goldstein’s representation successful his location until removing it connected the proposal of run strategists successful 2021.

Indicted for his activities connected 53 occasions, Ben-Gvir aboriginal boasted to Haaretz that pursuing his occurrence successful having a bulk dismissed, the judges successful his trials recommended helium survey law.

However, successful 2007, 2 indictments resulted successful convictions for incitement to racism and supporting a violent organisation, aft Ben-Gvir was arrested brandishing signs reading, “Expel the Arab enemy,” and “Rabbi Kahane was right: The Arab MKs are a 5th column,” referring to Arab members of the Israeli Knesset.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Jerusalem Day, successful Jerusalem’s Old City, connected May 26, 2025 [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

Ben-Gvir qualified arsenic a lawyer successful defiance of the Israeli Bar Association successful 2012, which had tried to barroom him owed to his past convictions and became known for defending far-right settlers and hardliners.

In 2015, those far-right connections again threatened to derail his governmental ambitions erstwhile helium was photographed astatine the wedding of Amiram Ben-Uliel, a settler convicted of sidesplitting a one-year-old babe and his parents erstwhile helium firebombed their location successful the occupied West Bank colony of Duma.

At the wedding, guests were filmed dancing with knives, battle rifles and a Molotov cocktail, portion 1 repeatedly stabbed an representation of the babe victim.

Ben-Gvir defended the gathering, claiming, to the disbelief of many, that “no 1 realised these were photos of a subordinate of the Dawabsheh family”.

Member of the Knesset, Ofer Cassif, who had questioned Ben-Gvir’s eligibility to basal for election, gave Al Jazeera a idiosyncratic relationship of the person that starkly contrasts with the affable persona presented by immoderate sections of Israeli media.

“I’ve ne'er seen Ben-Gvir laughter oregon joke. He’s a bully, but the benignant of schoolyard bully who shuts up arsenic soon arsenic the teacher raises their voice,” helium said.

“Ben-Gvir is simply a convulsive man. I mean, helium has convictions for supporting coercion and had a representation of Baruch Goldstein connected his wall.”

Politicised hate

In 2022, Netanyahu helped cement an confederation betwixt Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right person of the Religious Zionist Party, arsenic the nationalist turned against a wide conjugation led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.

After earlier associated runs successful 2021 and 2019, they returned to the Knesset arsenic the third-largest faction, maintaining Netanyahu’s conjugation and, according to analysts, acting arsenic nationalist faces for the much extremist aspects of its right-wing ideology.

In the years since, Ben-Gvir has been accused by analysts and activists of moulding the Israeli police unit successful his ain far-right image.

He has boasted connected societal media of worsening the already harrowing conditions of Palestinian detainees, galore held without charge, portion defending the rape and forced starvation of others.

At the aforesaid clip arsenic threatening to collapse the ruling coalition astatine the archetypal motion that the genocide successful Gaza mightiness beryllium scaled back, Ben-Gvir has besides led galore incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, 1 of the holiest sites successful Islam, successful defiance of authorities policies.

Following the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, Ben-Gvir has overseen a accelerated summation successful gun licences to Israeli settlers crossed the occupied West Bank. As predicted, determination has been a spike successful deadly unit against Palestinians since then.

In April, planetary outrage focused connected footage of the curate clutching a vessel of champagne arsenic helium celebrated the transition of a measure targeting Palestinians with the decease penalty.

Former Israeli authorities advisor Daniel Levy pointed retired that overmuch of the disapproval of Ben-Gvir’s haranguing Samud activists successful May was astir show itself, alternatively than the maltreatment they had suffered successful Israeli detention.

“To my mind, it’s the casual target. The statement being made is that the occupation is Ben-Gvir going retired and posting a video, alternatively than the mode they dainty the flotilla, the settlers, fto unsocial the mode they dainty Palestinians,” Levy said.

“They aren’t changing their policies whatsoever. No 1 is questioning what they really bash successful Gaza, the West Bank, the flotilla, Lebanon, etc. Instead, they’re questioning the benignant of 1 minister.”

Nevertheless, contempt the planetary blowback, Ben-Gvir’s base appears to beryllium holding firm, adjacent arsenic the prima of his much sober counterpart connected the utmost right, Bezalel Smotrich, appears to beryllium fading.

Yet, Israeli pollster Dahlia Scheindlin pointed retired that, successful reality, Ben-Gvir’s argumentation positions were seldom much utmost than galore successful the governing Likud party.

“[He] represents a populist far-right Jewish supremacist authorities with a theatrical, provocative, circus benignant acquainted from nationalist-populist politicians astir the world,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“His supporters could beryllium secular, accepted oregon spiritual right-wingers who judge that threats from Palestinians tin lone beryllium addressed done unit and humiliation.”

Ben-Gvir was invited to respond to the points raised successful this nonfiction but has yet to bash so.