Diplomats from the Biden Administration met privately in the past two weeks with Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir, according to a blockbuster report published Wednesday by Israeli diplomatic correspondent Bar Shem-Ur.
The report was confirmed by Ben Gvir’s office.
בן גביר טען כי קיבל מידע שלפיד ״הולך לדיפלומטים ומתדרך נגדו״ והזמין את לפיד לתבוע אותו לגבי המידע, אבל סרב להגיד מאיפה קיבל אותו. מלשכתו של בן גביר אישרו כי הפגישה אכן התקיימה עם הדיפלומטים האמריקאים
— בר שם-אור Bar Shem-Ur (@Bar_ShemUr) October 19, 2022
The meeting came against the background of harsh criticism issued by Democratic lawmakers about 10 days ago.
“The administration is following the political developments with concern and is troubled by the possibility that the chairman of Otzma Yehudit will be appointed in a future government in Israel,” a Biden administration official told Israel Hayom.
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“In American terms it is like the ‘Ku Klux Klan’ in the Israeli government,” a senior American Jewish leader also told the news outlet. “It is an insurmountable thing. There will be no ability to defend it.”
The scathing comments were made in response to reports that Ben Gvir might be appointed a cabinet minister in a future government led by Likud chairman and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who currently leads the opposition.
Ben Gvir allegedly said he had received information that caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid – chairman of the left-centrist Yesh Atid party – was “going to diplomats and briefing them against him.”
The Otzma Yehudit chairman did not, however, reveal his source for the information.
There has been no comment from the White House.
