Itamar Ben-Gvir | |
|---|---|
אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר | |
.jpg) Ben-Gvir in 2022 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 2022–Jan 2025 | Minister of National Security |
| Mar 2025– | Minister of National Security |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 2021–2022 | Religious Zionist Party |
| 2022– | Otzma Yehudit |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1976-05-06)6 May 1976 (age 49) Mevaseret Zion, Israel |
| Political party | Otzma Yehudit |
| Spouse | Ayala Nimrodi |
| Children | 6[1] |
| Education | Ono Academic College |
| Signature |  |
Itamar Ben-Gvir (Hebrew:אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר[itaˈmaʁbenˈgviʁ]; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who has served as theMinister of National Security since 2022, except for a two-month gap in early 2025. He is the leader ofOtzma Yehudit ("Jewish Power"), anIsraeli far-right,Kahanist, andanti-Arab party that won six seats in the2022 legislative election and is part of thethirty-seventh government of Israel.
Ben-Gvir is asettler in theIsraeli-occupiedWest Bank whose "political background lies inKahanism — a violently racist movement that supports the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands".[2] He has a long history of anti-Arab activism, leading to dozens of indictments and at least eight convictions of crimes including incitement to racism and support for, as well as possession of propaganda of, a terrorist organization (the now-illegalKach political party).[3] As a lawyer, he is known for defendingJews accused ofJewish extremist terrorism in Israeli courts.[4]
Ben-Gvir is known for being a provocateur and has attracted headlines for a variety of reasons: threatening Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin on live television in 1995 shortly beforehis assassination; having had a portrait in his living room ofBaruch Goldstein, aJewish extremist terrorist andmass murderer; calling in 2019 for the expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel who are not loyal to the state;[5] inciting violent clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood ofSheikh Jarrah in 2021; and making highly controversial visits to theTemple Mount, where theal-Aqsa Mosque is located, in 2023 and 2024.[6]
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 thethree-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 thecontinuation of airstrikes in Gaza.
Itamar Ben-Gvir was born inMevaseret Zion as the youngest of two sons. His father, Zadok Ben-Gvir, was born inJerusalem to parents fromIraqi Kurdistan, and worked at a gasoline company and dabbled in writing. His mother, Shoshana Ben-Gvir, was aKurdish Jewish immigrant from Iraq who was active in theIrgun as a teenager. She was arrested by the British at age 14, and later worked as a homemaker.[7][4] His family wassecular and moderate, but as a teenager, he was radicalized during theFirst Intifada. He first joined a right-wing youth movement affiliated withMoledet, a party which advocated the expulsion of Arabs out of Israel, and then joined the youth movement of the even more radicalKach and Kahane Chai party, which was designated as a terrorist organization and outlawed by the Israeli government.[8][9] He became youth coordinator of Kach, and claimed that he was detained at the age of 14. When he came of age for conscription into theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) at 18, he was exempted from service due to his extreme-right political background.[10][4]
Ben-Gvir continued to be associated with theKahanist movement;[11]Otzma Yehudit is considered Kach's ideological successor.[12] However, when forming the Otzma Yehudit party, he claimed that it would not be a Kach, Kahane Chai or splinter group.[13] He carried out a series offar-right activities that have resulted in dozens of indictments. In a November 2015 interview, he claimed to have been indicted 53 times.[14] In most cases, the charges were thrown out of court.[4] In 2007, however, he was convicted for incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization. Following a bombing in Jerusalem, Ben-Gvir had chanted "Death to Arabs" and held signs reading "Expel the Arab enemy" and "Rabbi Kahane was right: The Arab MKs are a fifth column."[15][16][17] Ben-Gvir has been convicted of at least eight charges.[3]
In the 1990s, he was active in protests against theOslo Accords. In 1995, Ben-Gvir came to public attention for the first time, when he appeared on television brandishing a Cadillachood ornament that had been stolen from Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin's car, and declared: "We got to his car, and we'll get to him too." Several weeks later, Rabin wasassassinated by right-wing extremistYigal Amir.[4][18]
Ben-Gvir sometimes represented himself during his many indictments, and at the suggestion of several judges, he decided to study law. Ben-Gvir studied law at theOno Academic College.[4] At the end of his studies, theIsrael Bar Association blocked him from taking the bar exam on grounds of his criminal record. Ben-Gvir claimed the decision was politically motivated. After a series of appeals, this decision was overturned, but it was ruled that Ben-Gvir would first have to settle three criminal cases in which he was charged at the time. After being acquitted in all three cases on charges including holding an illegal gathering and disturbing a civil servant, Ben-Gvir was allowed to take the exam. He passed the written and oral examinations, and was granted a license to practice law.[19][20]
As a lawyer, Ben-Gvir has represented a series offar-right Jewish activists suspected of terrorism and hate crimes, some of which are colloquially known ashilltop youth. He has stated that his work representing them is ideologically motivated.[4] Notable clients include Kahanist activistBenzi Gopstein and two teenagers charged in theDuma arson attack, in which three people died, including a 18 month baby. The Israeli newspaperHaaretz described Ben-Gvir as the "go-to man" for Jewish 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".[4] Ben-Gvir has also representedLehava, afar-right Israeli anti-assimilation organization founded by Gopstein which is active in opposing Jewish intermarriage with non-Jews,[21][22] and has sued theJerusalem Waqf.[23][24][25]
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Ben-Gvir was the parliamentary assistant in the 18th Knesset forMichael Ben-Ari.[13] In the2013 Israeli legislative election, he was placed fifth on the Otzma Leyisrael list, but failed to enterKnesset since the party did not pass the election threshold.[26] On 23 July 2017, he was part of the leadership of a protest that included dozens of people outside of the prime minister's office in Jerusalem. The protest was held by bothLehava and Otzma Yehudit ('Jewish Power').[27]
Ben-Gvir had planned to run for a seat in the Knesset in the2019 Israeli legislative election in the first slot of a combinedNoam/Otzma Yehudit electoral list,[28] though the two parties split over Otzma's inclusion of a secular candidate on the combined list (which Noam disagreed with).[29] Ben-Gvir was in the third seat[30] of a joint list that included Otzma Yehudit, Noam and theReligious Zionist Party that ran in the2021 Israeli legislative election.[31] He was elected to the Knesset as the alliance won six seats.[32]
In the2022 Israeli legislative election, Otzma Yehudit again ran as part of a combined list with the Religious Zionist Party, led byBezalel Smotrich. This combined list was strongly encouraged byBenjamin Netanyahu, who 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.[33] The prospect of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich entering government was highly controversial.Yaakov Katz, the then editor ofThe Jerusalem Post, warned that such a government would work "toward the same goal of destroying Israeli democracy."[34] The combined list received the 3rd most votes in the 25th Knesset, a total of 14 seats out of 120.[35][36] Ben-Gvir and his party entered a Netanyahu-led government. The president of Israel,Isaac Herzog was heard on ahot mic saying that the entire world was worried about Ben-Gvir becoming a minister.[37] It was reported in late November 2022 that Ben-Gvir would head the newly created National Security Ministry, whose duties would include overseeing theIsrael Border Police in theWest Bank.[38]
In January 2022, his level of security was increased. Due to frequent death threats, Ben-Gvir is accompanied by multiple security guards in public, and extra security measures are taken to ensure his safety.[39]
As minister, Ben-Gvir worked to loosenIsrael's firearm-ownership regulations.[40] His office stated in August 2025 that reforms had led to 230,000 new firearm licenses.[41] He also encouraged the creation of theNational Guard of Israel.[42][43][44]
On 26 January 2024 he accused theInternational Court of Justice ofantisemitism following its ruling on the caseSouth Africa v. Israel.[45] He was the subject of a foiledassassination plot by seven Arab citizens of Israel and four Palestinians from the West Bank in 2024.[46]
After the Israeli military police in July 2024 visitedSde Teiman detention camp to detain nine Israeli soldiers suspected of aggravated abuse and forcible sodomy of a Palestinian 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".[47]
Various reports indicate that, since the7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel mistreatment has become an integral part of Israel's detention ofPalestinian prisoners in Israel which is under Ben-Gvir.[48][49]
On 16 January 2025, Ben-Gvir held a press conference in which he announced his intention to resign as minister and withdraw Otzma Yehudit from the coalition if the government accepted thethree-phase ceasefire proposal.[50] The proposal was accepted, and Ben-Gvir subsequently resigned alongside his party's ministers when the ceasefire went into effect on 19 January 2025.[51] His term expired on 21 January.[52] Otzma Yehudit has stated its intention to rejoin the governing coalition if the deal does not result in a permanent ceasefire.[50]His party announced their intention to return to the government on 18 March 2025.[53] The cabinet approved Ben-Gvir's reappointment that night[54] and it was approved by the Knesset the following day.[55]
On 10 June 2025, the governments of theUnited Kingdom,Canada,Australia,New Zealand, andNorway announced that they would imposetravel bans and freeze Ben-Gvir's assets alongside Finance MinisterBezalel Smotrich, accusing them of incitingsettler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.[56] The decision was criticized by the two ministers and the United States.[57][58] In July 2025, he was also sanctioned by the governments ofSlovenia[59] and theNetherlands.[60][61] In September 2025, the government ofSpain sanctioned him.[62]
In September 2025,Shin Bet announced that it had worked with the IDF and Israeli police to uncover and thwart a plot by a cell of operatives in Hebron to assassinate Ben-Gvir using an explosive drone during a visit Ben-Gvir had planned to theCave of the Patriarchs. The cell had been funded by Hamas officials based inTurkey.[63][64]
On 7 November 2025, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Turkey charged Ben-Gvir and 36 other Israeli officials with committinggenocide andcrimes against humanity in Gaza and issued an arrest warrant for him.[65]
Having defended the perpetrators of the 2015Duma arson attack in which vigilante settlers firebombed the home of a family in a Palestinian village, resulting in the deaths of a 18 month baby and its parents,[66] it was controversial that Ben-Gvir, along with Bentzi Gopstein, were seen attending the wedding of a couple related to the perpetrators, which became known asthe wedding of hate, in which the weddinggoers could be seen waving rifles, guns and firebombs and even stabbing a photograph of the Palestinian toddler who was killed.[67][68]
On 25 February 2019, Ben-Gvir said that Arab citizens of Israel who were not loyal to Israel "must be expelled".[69]
Prior to entering office Ben-Gvir was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-Americanmass murdererBaruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others inHebron, in the 1994Cave of the Patriarchs massacre;[70][71] he removed the portrait in preparation for the2020 Israeli legislative election in hope of being allowed to run on the unified right list headed byNaftali Bennett.[72]
In the context of theSheikh Jarrah controversy, in May 2021, Ben-Gvir set up a makeshift office in theEast Jerusalem neighborhood ofSheikh Jarrah, in a show of solidarity with Jewish settlers.[73] Palestinian residents of 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.[74] Ben-Gvir dismantled his office and left the neighbourhood after Netanyahu agreed to increase police presence in the neighbourhood during Ramadan.[75]
In October 2021, Ben-Gvir and Joint List leaderAyman Odeh had a physical confrontation during a visit to theKaplan Medical Center to see Miqdad Qawasmeh, a Hamas operative who had been on a hunger strike for over three months of hisadministrative detention. Ben-Gvir was against Qawasmeh being treated in an Israeli hospital, and stated that he had visited to check the detainee's conditions, as well as to "see up close this miracle that a person remains alive despite not eating for several months". As Ben-Gvir attempted to enter Qawasmeh's room, he accused Odeh of being a terrorist for supporting extremists like Qawasmeh. Odeh then struck first, pushing Ben-Gvir, and the pair began to scuffle before being separated by bystanders.[76] Ben-Gvir later filed a complaint against Odeh, claiming that he had "committed a serious criminal act".[77]
In December 2021, Ben-Gvir was investigated after a video surfaced of him pulling a handgun on Arab security guards during a parking dispute in the underground garage of theExpo Tel Aviv conference center. The guards asked Ben-Gvir to move his vehicle as he was parked in a prohibited space. He then drew a pistol and brandished it at the guards.[78] Both parties taunted each other, and Ben-Gvir claimed that he felt his life threatened. The guards were unarmed.[79] He was criticized by lawmakers across the aisle, and the incident was investigated.[80]
On 13 October 2022, Ben-Gvir took part in clashes in Sheikh Jarrah between Israeli Jewish settlers and local Palestinian residents whilst brandishing a gun, telling the police to shoot at Palestinians throwing stones at the scene, and yelling at them that "We're the landlords here, remember that, I am your landlord."[81] This was a message he later repeated in a tweet on the morning afterthe 2022 election in his victorytweet.[82]
Ben-Gvir has led several visits to theTemple Mount as an activist and member of Knesset, as well as contentious marches through Jerusalem's Old CityMuslim Quarter.[6] On 3 January 2023, he visited the Temple Mount as national security minister, which prompted a wave of international criticism from the United States, European Union, and Arab countries including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who characterised his visit as provocative and called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites.[6] On 13 August 2024, he led a group of Jewish worshippers to the compound on the occasion ofTisha B'Av, an annual day of fasting in Judaism. Against convention, several Jews were seen praying and prostrating themselves without being challenged by police who were present. 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.[83] At the urging of Jerusalem mayorMoshe Lion, five senior rabbis issued a video statement in Hebrew, with Arabic subtitles, stating that it is strictly forbidden for Jews to enter the compound, and called for calm.[84]
On 8 January 2023, Ben-Gvir ordered Israeli police to remove Palestinian flags being flown in public, stating the flags symbolized terrorism.[85] In May 2023 the European Union cancelled its diplomatic event forEurope Day in Israel because of the planned participation of Ben-Gvir. It was also reported that, since Netanyahu's 2022 government took power, "official representatives of many European countries - which have strong relations with Israel - have refused to meet Mr Ben-Gvir and his fellow ultranationalist, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich."[86]
In August 2023 Ben-Gvir stated, "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 Arabs".[87] These comments were condemned by thePalestinian Authority (PA) and theUS State Department as racist. The PA condemned "the racist and heinous remarks by Israel's fascist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, which only confirms Israel'sapartheid regime of Jewish supremacy and racial terror against the Palestinian people".[2]
In October 2023, following the arrest of fiveHaredi Jews for spitting at Christians outside churches, Ben-Gvir said it was "not a criminal case" following arrests.[88] He said he thought it should be addressed "through instruction and education", rather than justifying arrest.[89] Prior to entering politics, he defended Jews spitting at Christians as "an ancient Jewish custom".[89] After theHamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Ben-Gvir said that "Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult events in its history. This is not the time for questions, tests and investigations."[90]
TheArab community in Israel has seen a significant increase inviolence and organized crime, including a rise in gang-related murders in recent years.[91][92] A report byThe Abraham Initiatives highlighted that 244 Arab community members were killed in Israel in 2023, more than double the previous year's count.[93][94] The report attributed this surge in homicides directly to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who campaigned on a platform promising to improve personal security and oversees law enforcement.[93]
In November 2023 he declared that "when they say that Hamas needs to be eliminated, it also means those who sing, those who support and those who distribute candy, all of these are terrorists."[95][96] On 1 January 2024, Ben-Gvir said that the war with Hamas presented an "opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza."[97] He has stated that "We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing".[98] On the day that a number of European countries recognised a Palestinian state, Ben-Gvir entered theAl-Aqsa Mosque compound and said "We will not allow any surrender that would even include a declaration of aPalestinian state" and that the mosque site belongs "only to the State of Israel".[99]
Noted Israeli sociologistEva Illouz has said Ben-Gvir represents "Jewish fascism".[100]
The European Union's foreign policy chief,Josep Borrell, has requested that some Israeli ministers be sanctioned by the 27 member states of the bloc for their 'hate messages' towards Palestinians. He didn't specify the ministers, but recently he's publicly criticized Ben-Gvir andSmotrich for statements he described as 'sinister'.[101]
Ben-Gvir has claimed credit for delaying ceasefire negotiations during theGaza war.[102]
In November 2025, at an Otzma Yehudit party meeting, Ben-Gvir advocated for the assassinations of officials of the Palestinian Authority and the arrest of Palestinian presidentMahmoud Abbas if theUnited Nations continued to supportrecognition of Palestinian statehood.[103]
Ben-Gvir is married to Ayala Nimrodi, a distant relative ofOfer Nimrodi, the former owner of theMaariv daily newspaper.[4] They met around 2002 when Nimrodi was 15 and Ben-Gvir was 26[3] and married in 2004.[104] Reportedly, the couple visited the grave ofBaruch Goldstein, a mass murderer, on their first date.[3][105][106] The couple has six children, and they live in theIsraeli settlement ofKiryat Arba/Hebron, which isillegal under international law, in theIsraeli-occupiedWest Bank.[4]
Ben-Gvir sued his father's caregiver, aforeign worker fromSri Lanka, for 100,000NIS after he asked forseverance pay from him and his brother, after Ben-Gvir's father died. Ben-Gvir's claim was that his father died because the worker went on a vacation. The court ruled that Ben-Gvir and his brother would have to pay the foreign worker around 100,000 NIS as their father's heirs.[107]
In May 2025, Ben-Gvir and his wife were attacked byanti-ZionistHaredi Jews of theNeturei Karta while they were visiting inBeit Shemesh when he called on the police to report Palestinian flags painted on the side of a building.[108][109]
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization in 2008
Media related toItamar Ben-Gvir at Wikimedia Commons
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