Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli Finance Minister, leads the Religious Zionist Party, while Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, heads the Otzma Yehudit party. Together, they represent the far-right faction within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Both leaders are against providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and support the overall transfer of resources. They also ignore the violence experienced by Palestinians in the West Bank, along with the ongoing construction of illegal settlements there.
Interestingly, these two figures have now received disapproval from four prominent American allies: Australia, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway.
These five countries have frozen their assets and prohibited them from entering their territories. In a joint statement, they declared, “Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and caused significant violations of Palestinian human rights. The extreme rhetoric promoting the evacuation of Palestinians and advocating for new Israeli settlements is appalling. Such actions are intolerable.”
The statement also highlighted the condition in Gaza, asserting, “There aren’t illegal transfers of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, nor are there any cuts to the territory of Gaza.”
There’s nothing new about their racist advocacy and their severe approach toward Palestinians. Smotrich had previously spoken out against Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, leading to his arrest for three weeks that year due to alleged attempts to blow up a highway.
In 2016, he tweeted that Arab and Jewish women should be segregated in maternity wards, claiming, “It’s only natural that my wife wouldn’t want to lie beside someone whose baby could have the potential to harm her in the future.” More recently, as part of Netanyahu’s government, he maintained that “there’s no such thing as a Palestinian state.” In November 2023, he suggested “voluntary immigration” for Gaza residents, expressing support for a Trump administration plan to facilitate this.
Ben Gvir, while similarly radical, is often compared to Smotrich and has a history rooted in extremism. At just 16 years old, Ben Gvir associated with the Kach party, which was labeled a terrorist organization by the Israeli government. Kach openly called for the expulsion of Arabs from Israel, and Ben Gvir served as a youth coordinator.
In 1995, he vandalized Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s official vehicle, making a public show of it and stating, “We will get his car and reach him too.” Weeks later, Rabin was assassinated.
While Smotrich served in the Israeli Defense Forces, Ben Gvir was disqualified from military service due to his radical activism. He has faced numerous charges over the years and was convicted in 2007 for promoting racism and supporting terrorist groups. He currently oversees Israeli police and prison operations.
Like Smotrich, Ben Gvir advocates for expanding settlement activities in the West Bank and defends settlers’ aggressive actions toward Palestinians. He prioritizes Jewish movement rights in the West Bank over those of Palestinians. As a government minister, he actively supports extremist rallies, which often lead to violence against Palestinians. He too opposes humanitarian aid directed at Gazans and backs their removal from their areas.
It’s not surprising that they’re unwelcome in the UK, Canada, and Australia. What raises eyebrows is their continued acceptance in the United States. Smotrich visited Washington this year, and Ben Gvir has even found supporters among certain American factions.
The hope is that the U.S. will heed the example set by its allies. Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir should be regarded with caution and not welcomed in America.
