After a government alliance is reached between the conservative Likud party, led by Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, and the far-right Jewish Power party, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the latter will take over the Ministry of Homeland Security portfolio, raising concerns about the future of Palestinian-Israeli relations due to his tough and anti-Arab political stance. While the Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned of the “potentially catastrophic” consequences of the move for what was left of relations between the Palestinians and the Israeli side, Washington urged all officials in the new government to spread the values of “an open democratic society, including tolerance and respect for everyone in civil society.
Ben-Gvir’s dossier includes a 2007 conviction for racial incitement to Arabs and support for a group that Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization, and he will be tasked with expanding a security portfolio that will include responsibility for border police in the occupied West shore. .
Giving Ben Gvir the authority to guard the borders in the West Bank is “a form of blurring the border between Israel and the West Bank,” said Merav Zonzain, senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group.
In addition to the expanded security portfolio, Ben-Gvir’s party will also take over the ministries responsible for the development of the Negev and Galilee regions, the ministry of heritage, a deputy position in the economy ministry, and chairmanship of the Public Safety Committee. in the Knesset.
Ben Gvir strongly opposes the creation of a Palestinian state. He is a settler living in the West Bank, which Israel occupied during the 1967 war. During the election campaign, he was seen pointing at Palestinian demonstrators in occupied East Jerusalem. also supports Jewish prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
