Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed the public with three different narratives regarding the ongoing attacks on Iran. While addressing Iranians, he emphasizes freedom. During his meetings in the U.S., he characterized Iran as the greatest threat possessing nuclear power. In his Hebrew speeches to the Israeli public, he repeats the term “Amalek,” which he frequently used during the genocide in Gaza, and portrays Iranians as a group that must be eradicated.
And next to him stands Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who has drawn attention with the role he adopted throughout the genocide Israel committed since Oct. 7 and now as a figurehead in Netanyahu’s latest rhetoric. One of the most controversial figures brought to the forefront by Israeli politics in recent times, Ben Gvir leverages state power to perpetuate the Kahanist ideas he accumulated from his fanatical settler past, while continuing to escalate his radical discourse. Emerging from the far-right fringe of Israeli society to gain power, Ben Gvir stands out as a figure whose statements and actions have drawn serious backlash from the international community.
Having openly advocated hatred toward Arabs since his youth, Ben Gvir has embraced the ideas of ultra-nationalist Rabbi and former member of the Israeli Knesset, Meir Kahane, who emphasized the immediate expulsion of Palestinians from all territories occupied by Israel and deemed the use of explicit violence necessary to achieve these goals. He joined the youth wing of the Kah Party, which was banned by Israel as a terrorist organization when he was just 16 years old. Due to the ideas he was influenced by, his rhetoric, and his behavior, he was deemed a “security risk” by the Israeli military and was not permitted to enlist for mandatory military service.
His first moment in the public eye came when, in front of television cameras, he excitedly waved the car emblem torn from Yitzhak Rabin’s official vehicle – Rabin would be assassinated a few weeks later – and declared, “We’ve reached his car; now it’s Rabin’s turn.”
He harbored such racist hatred that he displayed a photograph of Baruch Goldstein, the terrorist who carried out the attack at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron on the morning of Feb. 25, 1994, resulting in the deaths of 29 Palestinians and injuries to over 150 others, on his wall for years.
In his speeches, Ben Gvir proudly recounts that he was first arrested at the age of 14. Throughout the process, he managed to evade the dozens of investigations, court cases and criminal convictions brought against him, and subsequently continued his radical activities using the attorney status he obtained through appeals.
To understand what kind of person Ben Gvir is, one needs only look at the clients he has represented since the 2000s. Ben-Gvir, who himself lives in Kiryat Arba, which is one of the most radical illegal settlements in the West Bank, has taken on the defense in Israeli courts of every radical, fanatical and racist terrorist responsible for the most inhumane attacks against Palestinians in the area.
Ben Gvir took on the role of parliamentary advisor to far-right Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari, who entered the Knesset in 2009, thereby gaining access to the parliamentary corridors.
In 2013, he became one of the founders of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which was formed in line with Kahane’s ideas. Otzma Yehudit failed to clear the electoral threshold in its first elections after its establishment.
In the 2019 elections, Ben-Gvir’s election as a lawmaker was also blocked due to the Supreme Court’s veto of Michael Ben-Ari’s candidacy over racist rhetoric and disagreements within the right-wing bloc. However, in the 2021 elections, with Netanyahu’s support, Otzma Yehudit managed to enter the Knesset by forming an alliance with Bezalel Smotrich’s party, Ha-Tzionut ha-Datit (Religious Zionism).
Ben Gvir has continued his radical actions more freely under the protection of his parliamentary immunity and accompanied by Israeli police since entering the Knesset. Following resistance from Palestinians being evicted from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, he provoked the radicals with him to attack Palestinian homes and set vehicles on fire. He even escalated tensions by attempting to set up a field office and, while police were present, pointed a gun at protesting Palestinians and hurled threats.
Continuing his old habits even after becoming a lawmaker, Ben Gvir made headlines in the global media for drawing his weapon, making threats and carrying out attacks in Tel Aviv and at the El-Arub refugee camp near Hebron.
Following the rise of the far-right in Israel, the bloc that included Otzma Yehudit in the 2022 elections secured 14 seats and played a critical role in forming the government. Ben Gvir, who capitalized on this process to the fullest, secured the position of Minister of National Security during the coalition negotiations. Thus, Itamar Ben Gvir, who has been known to rip up sidewalk pavers to use in attacks, has been at the forefront of every provocative act, and was even rejected by the Israeli army on grounds of being a “security threat,” has risen to the position of top commander of the Israeli police force and the border units in the occupied Palestinian territories.
His tenure as minister, which began amid scandals, is marked by calls for radical changes in security policies. In every statement, he has insisted on adopting an unyielding stance toward Palestinians and turning a blind eye to the violence caused by illegal settlers.
In August 2023, during a program on Channel 12, he made the following statement, referencing place names in the Torah: “In Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), my right, and that of my wife and children, to move freely on the roads takes precedence over the Arabs’ freedom of movement.”
These remarks have been widely regarded as indicative of his racist stance. Surrounded by radical and marginal groups, he has repeatedly stormed the Haram al-Sharif, which includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, since the very beginning of 2023, shouting “We are the owners of these places!” and thereby violating its status as defined by international agreements.
Seeking to escalate tensions in the region through his provocative actions, Ben Gvir has actively strived to purge Palestinian territories of all non-Jewish elements and “depopulate” these areas.
Following Oct. 7, Ben Gvir, serving as national security minister in the war cabinet, distributed tens of thousands of M-16 and M-4 automatic rifles to certain Israeli civilians he referred to as “volunteer security and first-response teams” and to illegal settlers in the West Bank. As of Oct. 22, 2023, it was known that 527 such teams were established, 20,000 firearms had been distributed to their members, and tens of thousands more had been ordered.
While Muslim Israeli citizens and Palestinians in the West Bank are prohibited from possessing firearms, Israel has enacted legal regulations that make it remarkably easy for Jews in the region to obtain gun permits.
While the genocide in Gaza continues, all of this has resulted in an increase in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, raids on their villages, threats forcing them to abandon their homes and lands, and the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians.
A few weeks ago, he personally participated in a raid in Negev and told a Palestinian who said, “This is my home, and I have all the necessary documents. I’ve been living here for 40 years.”
In front of the cameras, he responded: “I don’t care! Jews are above the law. You have two hours. Clear this place out, or I’ll arrest you! Jews are the owners of this land. We will revive the old Jewish lands. We took Tel Aviv and Beersheba from you. And yet you think you can stay here!”
On Aug. 20, 2025, he made headlines for practices that turned prisons into centers of psychological torture. Once again, accompanied by cameras, he entered prisons and had massive images depicting the destruction and genocide in Gaza hung on the walls for the Palestinian “security prisoners” to view daily, stating, “This is the only thing you need to see every day!”
He carried out a similar raid in Negev on Oct. 2-3, 2025, following the Israeli navy’s unlawful detention of activists aboard the International Smud Fleet. Upon arriving at the center in the port of Ashdod, where hundreds of activists were being held, Ben Gvir addressed the cameras, stating, "Anyone who supports terrorism is a terrorist and deserves the same conditions applied to terrorists."
On Dec. 8, 2025, during a Knesset session debating a bill on “the death penalty for terrorist crimes,” Ben Gvir attended the session wearing a pin shaped like a gallows. In this way, Ben Gvir is able to not only label anyone he wishes as a “terrorist” but also to use the act of killing them as a legitimate narrative. Ben Gvir has not hesitated to take these actions as far as gravesites.
On Aug. 12, 2025, he demanded that the mayor issue an order for the immediate demolition of the grave of Palestinian resistance leader Izzeddin al-Qassam in Nesher, near Haifa, stating that security during the demolition would be provided by his own personnel.
Then, on Dec. 10, 2025, Ben Gvir entered the cemetery site, accompanied by cameras and police, had the tent set up there, the security cameras, and the informational signs removed, and made a statement saying, “The grave of the chief terrorist Izzeddin al-Qassam in Nesher must be removed! We took the first step yesterday.”
Through all his statements and actions, Ben Gvir presents himself not as a minister but as an anarchist actor who thrives on chaos and disorder.
His actions have drawn global backlash, leading countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, and the Netherlands to impose measures against him, including asset freezes, entry bans, and travel restrictions.
This individual, whom Netanyahu appointed to the cabinet in line with his own policies and in accordance with the conditions of the time, serves more as a “tool for stoking the fire” than as a minister of national security.
Unlike many leaders, ministers and politicians in various countries around the world, he has become a figure with no real substance, no knowledge of diplomatic practices, and one who, far from commanding respect, has drawn upon himself nothing but backlash and hatred, a man of his time who will be condemned by history and the conscience of humanity.
