Published: 16 September 2022
Last updated: 5 March 2024
His popularity is personal not ideological. But even if he gains more seats, the politician once convicted of supporting terrorism is less dangerous in the Knesset, writes GILAD GREENWALD.
For the past few weeks, the far-Right candidate Itamar Ben-Gvir, from the Religious Zionist Party led by Bezalel Smotrich, has become one of the most prominent politicians on the media agenda in Israel. He appears almost daily on television; he is one of the most “viral” politicians on social media; and every physical appearance of him, whether in a demonstration, a settlement, or a high school, receives a huge media response.
Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of supporting a (Jewish) terrorist movement in the 1990s, and is remembered to this day as an enthusiastic advocate of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, is provoking unprecedented hysteria in the “liberal camp” in Israel.
The main concern from many leftists is anchored in the potential significant increase of his party’s seats in the November election, from six seats in the current Knesset, to 11, according to opinion polls. In addition, many fear the possible appointment of Ben-Gvir as a senior minister in a far-Right, ultra-religious government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
In my view, this fear is exaggerated. To a large extent, it is also one of the reasons why Ben-Gvir has reached such a significant degree of prominence and exposure in the public discourse. I will try to explain why, through the following five points.
First, the Left tries to present a dichotomous picture of politics, as if the Israeli "mainstream" is so radically right-wing, that the ideas of “Rabbi” Meir Kahane (whose racist movement Kach was outlawed in the 1980s) became a central ideology. This is an inaccurate portrait. In order to persuade the "Israeli mainstream", Ben-Gvir has had to work hard; the ideological and practical compromises he has made over the past year are far-reaching, compared to the teachings of Kahane.
For instance, as a symbolic act, Ben-Gvir removed a photograph of Baruch Goldstein (a terrorist who murdered 29 Palestinians in 1994) from his living room wall in 2019. Ben-Gvir also changed the extreme discourse regarding Israeli Arabs and LGBTQ people that characterised his rhetoric until recently. Today he claims that LGBTQ people are "his brothers and sisters", and that if he had a gay son, he "would embrace him".
Therefore, it is superficial to claim that the "Ben-Gvir phenomenon" symbolises extremism across all aspects of Israeli society.
Do we want Ben-Gvir as a 'political criminal' who is prevented from participating in parliamentary politics, or in the Knesset as a political player who moderates and limits himself? The second option is better.
Second, the Left should ask itself: what is the alternative? We must address the more general political question of whether we want Ben-Gvir as a “political criminal”, who is prevented from participating in parliamentary politics; or whether we want Ben-Gvir in the Knesset as a political player, who moderates and limits himself in order to take part in institutional politics. I think the second option is better. Not perfect, but better. Democracy is not perfect.
It is better to prevent a situation where a relatively large, politically extreme group does not receive political representation in parliament, and accumulates rage and anger against the establishment. Instead, it is preferable to bring this group closer to the democratic narrative, and at the same time require it to present political and national responsibility and restraint.
Third, it seems that Ben-Gvir’s opponents have trouble understanding that the admiration of parts of the public for Itamar Ben-Gvir is a personal admiration, and not an ideological one. Ben-Gvir is a charismatic person, and there is something in his character and the way he expresses himself that evokes empathy, even in political opponents.
Recently, a video of Ben-Gvir visiting a school in North Tel Aviv (a stronghold of the political Left in Israel), showing him receiving sympathy calls from students who wanted to "take a selfie with him", caused a storm in public opinion. The hysterical conclusion of many Leftists was that the future generation in Tel Aviv has been captured by the extreme ideas of Ben-Gvir. This is an absurd conclusion.
I have a much simpler explanation. The children saw a nice "celebrity" from TV (or Facebook), got excited, called his name, and asked to take a picture together. This is it. There is no reason to look for deeper explanations here. All of these young fellows will vote for Yair Lapid or Beni Gantz three years from now, I have no doubt about that. Again, the hysteria is overly dramatic and irrational.
Fourth, we need to remember that historically, parties identified with religious Zionism tend to be larger in opinion polls than they are in actual results. For comparison, two months before the last elections, Naftali Bennett's party obtained 15 seats in election polls. In the election, it ended up with seven. Thus, it is possible that all the public noise attributing almost unlimited political power to Ben-Gvir is exaggerated because it is based on inaccurate opinion polls, which indicate a much greater political power than he will actually have.
The real problem for the State of Israel is not Itamar Ben-Gvir, but Benjamin Netanyahu. Likud is ready to sell all of its historical, liberal and national values to gain a majority in parliament.
Fifth, the real problem for the State of Israel is not Itamar Ben-Gvir, but Benjamin Netanyahu. There are far-Right parties all over the world. Just a few days ago, a far-Right party in Sweden won an unprecedented number of seats in the country's parliament.
The difference between Israel and the rest of the democratic world is that in Israel the moderate Right (Likud) is ready to cooperate with the far-Right to gain power. This is the immoral prospect, not the present in the political spectrum of a radical party per se, which is a natural part of almost any democratic society.
It was Netanyahu who legitimised Ben-Gvir as a major political player in Israel, and today he openly admits that he has no problem with Ben-Gvir being appointed as a minister in his government. The Likud is ready to sell all of its historical, liberal and national values to gain a majority in parliament. This is the real problem we are now facing.
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Photo: Itamar Ben-Gvir in August 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
