Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir published his first English-language op-ed in Newsweek on Thursday. In it he tries to erase the stereotypes and false assumptions the public has about him from how the media portrays him, as a racist extremist.
Ben-Gvir begins his op-ed discussing the Arab and Bedouins he’s met who’ve asked him to fix the security situations in their towns and communities which is destroying their lives. He explains that his issue is not with Arabs, as everyone claims, but with the Jihadi terrorists, who attack Jews and Arabs. Terror “does not distinguish between people or between blood,” he writes.
Talking about the Arab leaders he met, he wrote, “Among other things, these leaders want a crackdown on the estimated 400,000 illegal weapons in Israeli Arab villages—the barrels of which are often aimed at members of their own communities.”
Ben-Gvir discusses the overall security situation that has deteriorated in recent years, “Israel faces an average of seven attempted terror attacks a day—or 2,600 per year. (The Palestinian Authority and Hamas boast that the number is three times that amount.)”
He discussed the systemic discrimination that Jews face on the Temple Mount, of all places, and how he plans to fight for civil right and equality and end that discrimination.
He finishes his op-ed by writing that all of Israel’s ethnic groups deserve security and life, and that his government will provide it.
“Rather than being enemies, I believe that most people living in Israel and the broader region—Jews, Bedouins, Circassians, Druze, Arabs, and others—share a covenant of life. With the help of God, I am confident that the efforts of the Israeli government to provide security for all will allow peace-loving residents to enjoy a bright future in the Holy Land.”
