JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was known as a hardline extremist even before he became one of the lynchpins of the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history.
Burly, bespectacled and rough-spoken, Ben-Gvir, 48, has appeared to delight in offending anyone not aligned to the views of the pro-settler, nationalist-religious constituency behind his Jewish Power party.
His visit on Tuesday to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, just as ceasefire negotiators were preparing for another bid to end the fighting in Gaza and halt a spiral into regional war, was the latest in a series of actions that have often seemed designed to inflame outrage.
The visit, and his declaration that Jews should be allowed to pray there in defiance of decades-old status quo arrangements covering a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, drew international condemnation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly disavowed and rebuked Ben-Gvir, whose visit also outraged Orthodox Jews who consider the Temple Mount, revered as the site of Judaism’s two ancient temples, too sacred a place for Jews to enter.
For Ben-Gvir, who was photographed brandishing a gun at Palestinian demonstrators in East Jerusalem during the 2022 election campaign, the row served merely to reinforce his status as a firebrand.
Together with his fellow hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, he has clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu and other members of the cabinet, notably Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, a representative of the Israeli defence establishment he has always deeply distrusted.
Like many on the Israeli right, Ben-Gvir, who lives in a West Bank settlement, entirely rejects any talk of an independent Palestinian state and has pressed for an intensification of the war in Gaza, even as the death toll among Palestinians has passed 40,000.
A disciple of Meir Kahane, a rabbi who wanted to strip Arab Israelis of citizenship and whose party was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, Ben-Gvir was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement and support for a group on both the Israeli and U.S. terrorism blacklists.
WORLD OPINION
Over the years, he has toned down his rhetoric, saying he no longer advocates expulsion of all Palestinians, just those he deems traitors or terrorists.
But his appointment in 2022 by Netanyahu as National Security Minister, with responsibility for the police, was one of the clearest signs that the new government would pay little heed to world opinion.
His position in government assured by the kingmaker role he and Smotrich played in forming Netanyahu’s government, which holds a narrow but stable 4-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament, he has paid little heed to criticism.
He has repeatedly attacked the army and Netanyahu over the conduct of the war in Gaza, opposing any deal with Hamas and threatening at times to bring the government down if it agreed to a deal without destroying Hamas.
So far, he has not given any serious indication that he would carry out such a threat, which would tip his party from power along with the prime minister.
But he has repeatedly drawn the ire of the United States, Israel’s most important ally, over his rejection of a political solution with the Palestinians and his support for violent Jewish settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
And, as demonstrated by his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, one of the most sensitive locations in the Middle East, he has lost none of his willingness to provoke.
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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