In a small office in the industrial district of Lod, a city outside Tel Aviv where Israeli forces expelled thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war, sits the campaign headquarters of Otzma Yehudit, or “Jewish Power.”
asserted
headquarters → expel → Yehudit
The ultra-nationalist party is led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right firebrand once deemed too extreme to serve in Israel’s military.
asserted
party → lead → military
He now sits in Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet as national security minister, overseeing the country’s police and prison services.
asserted
He → sit → services
If Ben-Gvir has his way, the Oct. 27 election will give his party more seats in parliament and himself greater leverage over another right-wing government led by Netanyahu.
asserted
election → have → Netanyahu
His ambition is not to replace the prime minister but to make him even more dependent on the hardline parties pushing for Palestinians to leave Gaza and the West Bank—and for Israel to extend sovereignty over the territories.
asserted
Israel → replace → territories
“I want Netanyahu to be prime minister.
asserted
Netanyahu → want → ?
He’s a leader.
asserted
He → ’ → ?
I prefer him a million times over Eisenkot,” Ben-Gvir tells me in a rare interview on Oct. 19, referring to Netanyahu’s chief rival, the former military chief Gadi Eisenkot.
asserted
Gvir → prefer → rival
Pounding his chest, he adds: “What will really help Netanyahu be right wing is if I, Ben-Gvir, will be a senior minister and it’s a full right-wing government.”
asserted
it → pound → Netanyahu
The post he covets is defense minister, which would give him command over Israel’s armed forces and greater authority to pursue his vision for Gaza and the West Bank: fewer constraints on military operations, the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from both territories, and the expansion of Israeli control over lands he believes belong to the Jewish people.
asserted
he → covet → people
Netanyahu has resisted giving Ben-Gvir the portfolio.
asserted
Netanyahu → resist → portfolio
But Ben-Gvir and his allies hope to win enough seats to force Netanyahu to accommodate their demands or risk losing power.
asserted
Gvir → hope → power
He may benefit from the rightward shift of Israeli politics, particularly among younger voters drawn to his confrontational style and uncompromising vision of Jewish sovereignty.
uncertain
He → benefit → sovereignty
In a Channel 12 survey of first-time Jewish voters, nearly three-quarters identified as right-wing or center-right.
asserted
quarters → identify → voters
Polls suggest a tight contest, with Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party edging ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud in several recent surveys, but neither the prime minister’s right-wing bloc nor the opposition appears close to the 61 Knesset seats needed to govern.
asserted
bloc → suggest → seats
An average of four recent polls puts the two camps at roughly 50 and 53 seats, respectively, leaving Arab parties and smaller factions potentially pivotal.
asserted
average → put → parties
The result could be another fragile coalition; an unlikely unity government between Netanyahu and Eisenkot; or a prolonged deadlock that sends Israelis back to the polls.
uncertain
that → send → polls
Ben-Gvir, dressed in a white shirt and white kippah, speaks halting English.
asserted
Gvir → dress → English
Under his leadership, Israel’s prison service has drawn allegations of abuse for its treatment of Palestinian detainees.
asserted
service → draw → detainees
But he wants a more direct role in determining Israel’s future in Gaza and the West Bank.
asserted
he → want → Gaza
“If Israel wants to continue to live and not be destroyed, we have to capture all of Gaza,” he says.
asserted
he → want → Gaza
“We have to promote voluntary emigration.
asserted
We → have → emigration
It’s a beautiful place.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
But we can’t have one Hamas member there.”
asserted
we → have → member
His proposal would have Palestinians leave Gaza for countries willing to receive them, and then allow Israelis to establish settlements in the coastal enclave.
asserted
Israelis → have → enclave
It would reverse a defining decision of an earlier right-wing prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who in 2005 withdrew Israeli forces and evacuated more than 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza.
asserted
who → reverse → Gaza
Ben-Gvir offers no clear explanation of which countries would accept large numbers of Palestinians, or how their departure could be considered voluntary under the conditions he proposes.
uncertain
he → offer → conditions
“Gaza was always ours,” he says.
asserted
he → say → ?
We have to be wider, broader.
asserted
We → have → ?
Hamas are terrorists who don’t just want to destroy Israel.
asserted
who → want → Israel
They want to destroy the whole world.”
asserted
They → want → world
When I suggest that removing Palestinians from Gaza and resettling it would deepen Israel’s international isolation, he dismisses the concern.
asserted
he → suggest → concern
“I think that the stronger we are, we won’t be isolated,” he says.
asserted
he → think → ?
“Israel is isolated when it’s weak.
asserted
it → isolate → ?
If we help the population leave Gaza, we can be very strong.”
asserted
we → help → Gaza
Ben-Gvir’s rhetoric and policy designs have drawn widespread condemnation at home and abroad, with critics across the political spectrum accusing him of inciting war crimes and eroding the foundations of Israeli democracy.
asserted
critics → draw → democracy
“He’s a source of immense trouble,” Efraim Halevy, a former head of the Mossad, tells me.
asserted
Halevy → ’ → me
Ben-Gvir wants Israel to annex the territory, which he, like most Israelis, calls by its biblical names, Judea and Samaria.
asserted
he → want → names
It is home to 3.3 million Palestinians and governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), created by the 1993 Oslo Accords that envisioned a Palestinian state.
asserted
that → govern → state
Controlled by the Fatah party, the PA has a lightly armed security force that is trained by the U.S. military and historically works with Israel to suppress terror attacks.
asserted
that → control → attacks
…and 75 more, not listed.
The Aporia
.jpg?branch=production&width=4234&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)
