Itamar Ben-Gvir

**Itamar Ben-Gvir** (Hebrew: אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר [itaˈmaʁ benˈgviʁ]; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli lawyer, politician, who ran for the Security Ministry since 2022. He is the leader of Otzma Yehudit, a far-right Kahanist party in Israel that won six seats in the 2022 legislative election, which entered the 37th Israeli government.

Ben-Gvir is an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank, who represents Kahanism, a Zionist racist movement that backs the expulsion of non-Jews from the Land of Israel, which encompasses modern-day Israel and Occupied Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, southwestern Syria, southern Lebanon and further south.  

He has a long history of anti-Arab activism, leading to dozens of indictments and at least 8 convictions of crimes including incitement to racism, support of and possession of propaganda of a terror organization (referring to illegal,  far-right Zionist terror group Kach). As a lawyer, he is known for defending Jews accused of Jewish extremist terrorism in Israeli courts. 

He used to hang a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who perpetrated the Cave of the Patriarchs event at Hebron in his living room.

On 18 January 2025, it was reported that Ben-Gvir intended to resign from his ministerial position in response to the approval and implementation of the three-phase Gaza war ceasefire deal. He resigned on 19 January 2025. Two months later, it was announced that he and other party members would return to the government after an agreement was reached, following the conti

## Early life 
Itamar Ben-Gvir was born in Mevaseret Zion as the youngest. His dad Zadok, was born in Jerusalem to parents from Iraqi Kurdistan, and worked at a gasoline company and dabbled in writing. His mother, Shoshana Ben-Gvir, was a Kurdish Jewish immigrant from Iraq who was active in the Irgun as a teenager. She was arrested by the British at age 14, and later worked as a homemaker. 

Ben-Gvir worked as a youth coordinator for the Kach movement, which was designated as a terror group.

At the age of 18, Ben-Gvir refused conscription into the Israel Defense Forces due to disqualifications based on his far-right background.

Ben-Gvir used to serve as an attorney for far-right [Orthodox] Jewish activists convicted of hate crimes, violence and terror. He has stated that his work representing them is motivated by his ideology, creed and religion. and has sued the Jerusalem Waqf. The Israeli newspaper *Haaretz* described Ben-Gvir as the "go-to man" for Jewish and possibly Arab/Aramean extremists facing legal trouble, and reported that his client list "reads like a 'Who's Who' of suspects in Jewish terror cases and hate crimes in Israel". 

Later on, Ben-Gvir worked for the *Jewish National Front*, led by Baruch Marzel, which joined the National Union, of which Michael Ben-Ari, a self-described "devotee of Kahane" ran as #4, marking the first time that a Kahanist won elections after Meir Kahane.

After Baruch Marzel, Michael Ben-Ari (of Jewish National Front) and Aryeh Eldad (of HaTikvah) left the National Union and *Eretz Yisrael Shelanu* party to found the *Otzma LeYisrael*, in the 18th Knesset, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Benzi Gopstein and Baruch Marzel served as parliamentary aides to Michael Ben-Ari, chairman of Otzma Yehudit (2012-19).

*Otzma Yehudit* is a Hebrew name that means *"Jewish Power"*, reflective of its unrelenting use of force (or violence) against non-Jews. 

In the 2013 Israeli legislative election, he ran fifth for Jewish Power, but failed to enter Knesset since the party did not pass the election threshold. On 23 July 2017, he led a protest that included dozens of people outside of the prime minister's office in Jerusalem. The protest was held by both Lehava and Otzma Yehudit.

Itamar Ben-Gvir continues to associate himself with Kahanist movement, although he removed a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who used to run for the party that he was recruited for.

For the 2022 Israeli legislative election, Ben-Gvir's *Jewish Power*, Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party (and Maoz's Noam perhaps) ran together as part of a coalition brokered by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's office which publicly posted a video address warning against the parties running independently and risking falling below the 3.25% electoral threshold needed to get a seat. The prospect of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich entering government was highly controversial. Jacob Katz, the then editor of *The Jerusalem Post*, formerly called *"Palestinian Post"*, warned that such a government would work "toward the same goal of destroying Israeli democracy." The combined list received the 3rd most votes in the 25th Knesset, a total of 14 seats out of 120. Ben-Gvir and his party joined the Netanyahu-led government. The president of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog was heard on a hot mic saying that the entire world was worried about Ben-Gvir's potential entry to a Minister's office. In November 2022, Netanyahu appointed Itamar Ben-Gvir as the recent Security Minister, whose duties would include overseeing the Israel Border Police in the West Bank and Gaza.

In January 2022, his level of security was increased. Due to frequent death threats, Ben-Gvir was accompanied by multiple security guards in public, and extra security measures are taken to ensure his safety.

As minister, Ben-Gvir worked to loosen Israel's firearm-ownership regulations. His office stated in August 2025 that reforms had led to 230,000 new firearm licenses. Bibi Netanyahu backed the creation of a Ben-Gvir-led National Guard in Israel.

On 26 January 2024 he accused the International Court of Justice of antisemitism following its ruling on the case *South Africa v. Israel*. He was the subject of a foiled assassination plot by seven Arab citizens of Israel and four Palestinians from the West Bank in 2024.

Four Palestinians and three Arabs in Israel tried to assassinate Ben-Gvir but failed.

After the Israeli Police in July 2024 visited Sde Teiman detention camp to detain nine Israeli soldiers, suspected of aggravated abuse and rape of a Arab prisoner, Ben-Gvir condemned the prosecution of the soldiers as "shameful", calling for "the military authorities to back the fighters ... Soldiers need to have our full support".

On 16 January 2025, Ben-Gvir held a press conference in which he announced his intent to cease his ministry, withdraw his *Otzma Yehudit party* from the coalition if the government accepted the three-phase ceasefire proposal. The proposal was accepted, and Ben-Gvir and his party's ministers resigned when the ceasefire went into effect on 19 January 2025. His term expired on 21 January. Otzma Yehudit has stated its intention to rejoin the governing coalition if the deal does not result in a permanent ceasefire.

On 10 June 2025, the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway announced that they would impose travel bans and freeze assets belonging to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of inciting settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The decision was criticized by the two ministers and the United States. In July 2025, he was also sanctioned by the governments of Slovenia. The decision was criticized by the two ministers and the United States. In July 2025, he was also sanctioned by the governments of Slovenia and the Netherlands. In September 2025, the government of Spain sanctioned him.

In September 2025, Shin Bet, Israel Defence Forces and Israel Police uncovered and thwarted a plot by a cell in Hebron, most likely the Palestinians, to assassinate Itamar Ben-Gvir using an explosive drone during a visit Ben-Gvir had planned to the Cave of the Patriarchs. According to many sources, Hamas officials in Turkey funded this cell.

On 7 November 2025, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Turkey charged Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and 35 other Israeli officials with committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza and issued an arrest warrant for him.

### Controversies 
Having defended the perpetrators of the 2015 Duma arson attack in which vigilante Jewish settlers firebombed the home of a family in a Palestinian village, resulting in the deaths of a 18 month baby and its parents, it was controversial that both Benzi Gopstein and Ben-Gvir, who are themselves Jewish settlers in the West Bank from Orthodox affiliations were seen attending the wedding of a couple related to the perpetrators, which became known as "the wedding of hate", in which the weddinggoers could be seen waving rifles, guns and firebombs and even stabbing a photograph of an Arab toddler who was killed.

On 25 February 2019, Ben-Gvir asserted Arab citizens of Israel "must be expelled".

Since the CoP event, which saw 29 Gentiles's lives taken away, was said to be perpetrated by Baruch Goldstein, who ran for Kach & Kahane Chai, Ben-Gvir joined the youth wing of Kach and volunteer for it at 16, visiting his cemetery (at Meir Kahane Park) and later bought real estate at Hebron, where Goldstein's family settled and hanging his portrait ever since.

Later, he removed the portrait in preparation for the 2020 Israeli legislative election in hope of being allowed to run on the unified right list headed by Naftali Bennett and Bezalel Smotrich.

In the context of the Sheikh Jarrah controversy, in May 2021, Itamar Ben-Gvir set up a makeshift office in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in a show of solidarity with Jewish settlers. 

Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah have faced potential evictions by Israeli settlers for years. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai placed the blame for the outbreak of violent clashes on Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir dismantled his office and left the neighbourhood after Netanyahu agreed to increase police presence in the neighbourhood during Ramadan.

On 13 October 2022, Ben-Gvir took part in clashes in Sheikh Jarrah between Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents, brandishing a gun, telling the police to shoot at people throwing stones at the scene, and yelling at them that ''"We're the landlords here, I am your landlord."'', referencing his status as a Jewish settler in the West Bank. This was a message he later repeated in a tweet on the morning after the 2022 election in his victory tweet.

Ben-Gvir has led several visits to the Temple Mount as an activist and member of Knesset, as well as contentious marches through Jerusalem's Old City Muslim Quarter. On 3 January 2023, he visited the Temple Mount as national security minister, which prompted a wave of international criticism from the United States, the European Union, and Arab countries including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, who characterised his visit as provocative and called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites.

This caused wide outrage in Israel as well as internationally, and resulted in contradictory statements made by prime minister Netanyahu's office and Ben-Gvir himself about whether this indicated a formal change in Israeli policy. Moshe Lion commanded five senior rabbis to issue a video statement in Hebrew, with Arabic subtitles, stating that it is strictly forbidden for Jews to enter the compound, and called for calm, which they did.

On 8 January 2023, Ben-Gvir ordered Israeli police to remove Palestinian flags being flown in public, stating the flags symbolized terrorism. In May 2023 the European Union cancelled its diplomatic event for Europe Day in Israel because of the planned participation of Ben-Gvir. It was also reported that, since Bibi Netanyahu returned as Prime Minister, representatives of many European countries—which have super strong relations with Israel (especially Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition members)—have refused to meet or host Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. 

In August 2023 Ben-Gvir asserted "My right, and my wife's and my children's right, to get around on the roads in Judea and Samaria is more important than the right to movement for the Arabs". These comments were condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the U.S. State Department as racist. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)/Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned "the racist and heinous remarks by Israel's fascist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, which only confirms Israel's apartheid regime of Jewish supremacy and racial terror against Palestinians". After the October 7th attacks, Ben-Gvir said that "the State of Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult events in its history. This is not the time for questions, tests and investigations."

The Arab community in Israel has seen a significant increase in violence and organized crime, including a rise in gang-related murders in recent years. A report by *The Abraham Initiatives* highlighted that 244 Arab community members were killed in Israel in 2023, more than double the previous year's count. The report attributed this surge in homicides directly to Police Minister Ben Gvir, who campaigned on a platform promising to improve personal security and oversees law enforcement. He has stated that "We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only don't I rule out Jewish settlements there, I believe it is also an important thing". On the day that a number of European countries recognised a Palestinian Arab state, Ben-Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and said "We will not allow any surrender that would even include a declaration of a Palestinian state" and that the mosque site belongs "only to Israel".

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell has requested for sanctions of various Israeli ministers by the 27 member states of the bloc for their 'hate messages' towards non-Jews. He did not specify the ministers, but recently he has publicly criticized Ben-Gvir and Smotrich for statements he described as 'sinister'.

Ben-Gvir said he was delaying further ceasefire negotiations during the war in Gaza.

In March 2025, Ben-Gvir's office submitted a bill to cancel or formally repeal Oslo Accords, Wye River Memorandum and Hebron Protocols.

In July 2025, Ben‑Gvir urged Israel to eliminate the President of Syria, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, labeling him the "head of the snake" and insisting that "the only thing that can be done is to eliminate al‑Julani."

The following month, the PA sought to upgrade its status at the United Nations to a "Nation-State", so Ben-Gvir vowed to take punitive measures to "topple" the Palestinian Authority (PA), which he refers to as a "Terror government" and "Terror authority", calling its president, Abu Mazen, a "terrorist" or "Terror-in-waiting".

In November 2025, at an Otzma Yehudit party meeting, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reiterated his calls from Aug. 2025, to overthrow the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and slammed potential pathways to a Palestinian state arguing that "a Palestinian state of the 'invented' people who call themselves 'Palestinian' must not be established ...", vowing that he and his party, Otzma Yehudit, won't be part of a government which concedes to the idea of a Palestinian state, calling for arrest of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen and assassinations of officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA) after new countries recognized the State of Palestine.

In January 2026, Itamar Ben-Gvir overseen the demolition of the UNRWA office in occupied East Jerusalem and toured Hamat Geder to implement crocodiles in Israeli prisons.

Recently, on 26 January 2026, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Settlements Commissioner Orit Strock slammed the decision to open Rafah Crossing at a cabinet meeting.

Nowadays, in March '26, Ben-Gvir announced that most Jewish Jerusalemites would be eligible to gun licenses.  

## References