Appointment of Itamar Ben-Gvir raises fears of further escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions
Itamar Ben-Gvir inspects the site of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA
Associated Press in Jerusalem
The extremist Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has a long record of anti-Arab rhetoric and stunts, will become the country’s next minister of national security, according to the first of what are expected to be several coalition deals struck by the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
Likud announced an agreement with Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party on Friday. Negotiations with three other potential far-right and ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are continuing. If successful, Netanyahu would return to the prime minister’s office and preside over the most rightwing and religious government in Israel’s history.
The awarding of such a sensitive role to Ben-Gvir raises concerns of a further escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Ben-Gvir and his allies hope to grant immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot at Palestinians, deport rival lawmakers and impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of attacks on Jews.
Ben-Gvir is the disciple of a racist rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was banned from parliament and whose Kach party was labelled a terrorist group by the US before he was assassinated in New York in 1990.
Ahead of Israel’s election on 1 November, Ben-Gvir made the headlines for his anti-Palestinian speeches and stunts, including brandishing a pistol and encouraging police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in an already tense Jerusalem neighbourhood.
Before becoming a lawyer and entering politics, he was convicted of offences that include inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organisation.
In his new role, Ben-Gvir would be in charge of the police, among other things, enabling him to implement some of the hardline policies against the Palestinians he has advocated for years.
As part of the coalition deal, the ministry of internal security would be renamed ministry of national security and be given expanded powers, Likud said on Friday.
As head of the ministry, Ben-Gvir would oversee the police and the paramilitary border police that operate alongside Israeli soldiers in Palestinian population centres.
The Likud lawmaker Yaron Levin praised the agreement, which was signed on Thursday, as “the first agreement on the way to establishing a stable rightwing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu”.
Ben-Gvir first entered parliament in 2021, after his Jewish Power party merged with the Religious Zionism party. Ben-Gvir’s closest political ally, the Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, is conducting separate negotiations with Likud, which emerged as the largest party in the elections.
Netanyahu has balked at some of the demands, such as Smotrich seeking the defence ministry. Talks focus on the terms under which Smotrich would become finance minister.