I’m deeply troubled that Ben Gvir can speak freely in the US

Israel continues its assault on Gaza

A few days ago, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Israeli attacks killed 50 Gazans and wounded more than 150 others in the less than 24 hours. One of the attacks killed three Palestinians when an IDF drone hit a distribution center while Gazans were queuing up for the little available food.

At the same time, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was visiting the US. Gvir claimed during his visit that top Republican lawmakers support his policy of bombing food and humanitarian aid depots in Gaza.

In light of recent events in the US, Ben Gvir’s visit and royal welcome are beyond belief.

Who is Ben Gvir?

Itamar Ben-Gvir currently serves as Israel’s National Security Minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet. He is a radical, far-right member of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.

That is right. A man who believes that all of the land, including the West Bank and Gaza, belong to Israel and that Israel’s illegal settlers, of which there are now 700,000+ living in the West Bank, are necessary for Israel’s self-defense, holds a cabinet position in the Israeli government which is equivalent to the US Secretary of Homeland Security.

NB: When first appointed to this position, Gvir actively circulated weapons to the West Bank settlers. Needless to say, settler violence against the Palestinians has increased exponentially. 

NBB: Netanyahu became Prime Minister in the last election by siding with this party and agreeing to place some of its key leaders in his cabinet.

As a youth, Ben-Gvir joined the Kach party, founded by Meir Kahane. You may not know of Meir Kahane, but he was by every measure a terrorist. He advocated for the expulsion of all Arabs from the land—Gaza and the West Bank included. His views include the support of violence to accomplish his goals.

Kahane’s acts of violence were conducted in Israel and the US. In 1972, he was linked to the bombing of a mosque in Brooklyn.

Kahane was arrested on numerous occasions and served prison time for weapons charges and incitement.

The Kach party was known for its ultra-nationalism and anti-Arabism. This group was labeled as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

As a young man, Ben-Gvir served as the youth coordinator for the Kach party. He has been convicted on multiple charges, including incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organization.

Ben Gvir’s hero: Baruch Goldstein

Goldstein was an all-out terrorist. As an extreme proponent of Kahanism, in 1994, Goldstein carried out a terrorist attack on the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron during Ramadan. The attack killed 29 Palestinians and injured more than 125 others.

Gvir has never hidden his admiration for Goldstein. For years, a framed picture of Baruch Goldstein was hung in his living room.

As late as 2021, long after Gvir ascended into prominence in Israeli politics, Goldstein’s photo continued to be displayed in his home. Reports are that it was not until Gvir was being considered for a cabinet position in Netanyahu’s government that he took the picture of Goldstein down.

In the run-up to more recent elections and his appointment to a government office, Ben-Gvir claimed to have removed the photo, likely to soften his image and increase his broader political acceptance.

Gvir’s radical claims on Gaza

The absurdity of Gvir’s visit is intensified by the fact that he can speak freely of the Genocide in Gaza.

Gvir stated, “It’s a shame we don’t learn from our mistakes. As long as our hostages are dying in the tunnels, there is no reason for a gram of food or aid to enter Gaza.”

Of course, the inhumanity of using collective punishment as a means of war seems irrelevant to him. It is also apparently irrelevant that Israeli hostages are dying from Israel’s bombing campaigns.

Nonetheless, Ben Gvir posted on X this week that he is not alone in his views. He noted that many of the US Republicans with whom he met this week, “Expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that food and depots should be bombed in order to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely.”

Even many Christian Zionists disapprove of Gvir

It is worth noting that even many of the most ardent Christian Zionists have conveyed grief over the actions of Ben Gvir. For years, many Christian Zionists would qualify their support of Israel by making the benign remark, “Well, of course, Israel isn’t perfect.”

But when pressed for examples in which Israel isn’t perfect, none followed. Until recently, when it became low-hanging fruit to express alarm over Ben Gvir’s role in the Israeli cabinet. Even Israeli apologist Michael Brown shared dissent with me in a private email over Gvir’s role.

Yet, he has been welcomed to the US? What!!!

In light of all this, I can only cry out (I’d like to scream, but I’m not sure what good it will do, and it’s hard to convey this in a blog post anyway) WHAT?

If I have this straight, Americans cannot protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza without fear of detentions and deportations. But Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s radical National Security Minister, who advocates for the bombing of the food depots and the starvation of Gazans, has been given a warm welcome to the US.

So, while peaceful protestors and conscientious dissenters of Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Gaza find themselves in detention camps across the US with the threat of being deported, Ben Gvir is given a hero’s welcome to the US and a platform to advocate his hate speech? I find this deeply troubling.

Oh, did I mention that Gvir’s welcome to the US included a dinner in his honor at Trump’s estate in Florida? Really?

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