National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said in a Sunday Wall Street Journal interview that he thought the Biden administration was hampering Israel’s war effort, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would give Israel a freer hand to eliminate Hamas.
“Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with giving humanitarian aid and fuel [to Gaza], which goes to Hamas,” said Ben Gvir, expressing the prevailing opinion among numerous right-wing Israelis. “If Trump was in power, the US conduct would be completely different.”
Perhaps. The reality, unfortunately, has been that both Trump and Biden were invested in cutting their losses and getting the US out of the Middle East, to the detriment of the pro-Western countries in the region. And when it came to the two-state solution, Trump’s notes may have been softer on the issue, but it should be noted that his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was limited to the western part of the city, and his administration was prepared to establish an embassy in the eastern part, possibly in anticipation of its becoming the capital of a Palestinian State.
Trump declared that if he were in office after 2020, there wouldn’t have been a Russian invasion of Ukraine or a Hamas attack on Israel. But in reality, Hamas thrived in Gaza under both Democrats and Republicans in the White House.
“Ben Gvir’s approach is gaining popularity,” notes the WSJ. “Once a fringe idea before Oct. 7, a small majority of Jewish Israelis now fully or somewhat support the establishment of Jewish settlements inside Gaza, according to a poll conducted by Tel Aviv University last month.”
What’s Ben Gvir’s plan for Gaza? According to Sunday’s interview, he proposes a strategy aimed at motivating Gazans to willingly relocate to various destinations worldwide by providing them with financial incentives. He describes this approach as a genuinely humanitarian endeavor. Ben Gvir asserts that his understanding of Gaza Arabs’ openness to this concept is based on conversations with Arabs in Judea and Samaria, and confidential information acquired during his time in office.
However, he refrains from disclosing the specifics of these materials. Additionally, he suggests that convening a global conference could facilitate the identification of nations willing to accept Gazan refugees.
The WSJ points out that Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit is the only true-right coalition party that isn’t bleeding votes. In fact, since October 7, it has been gaining in the polls, from its current 6 mandates to 8 and 9, while Likud’s support is down from 32 to between 19 and 27 Knesset seats.
The WSJ noted that last Tuesday, following the emergence of reports suggesting a hostage deal potentially leading to the release of numerous terrorist prisoners, Ben Gvir took to social media, declaring his intent to quit the government if it approved the deal. A few hours later, Netanyahu made a public appearance in a yeshiva in a Samaria settlement, expressing his opposition to any such agreement. This stance marked a departure from his previous silence on hostage negotiations.
Dor Harlap, a member of Likud’s central committee, told the WSJ that while it appears that Netanyahu is responding to Ben-Gvir’s statements, he is actually responding to the changing sentiments among right-wing voters, albeit not as swiftly as Ben Gvir is doing.
I would take it as a compliment.
