The Rise of the Israeli Far Right
By Yarden Morad
One of the main stories of the upcoming Israeli elections on November 1st is the rise of the Israeli far right, and especially of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s “Otzma Yehudit’’ (Jewish Power) party. In Ben-Gvir’s words, the party believes in expulsion of Arab lawmakers from parliament and from the country. Ben-Gvir tries to be tough on Arab terror, advocating for allowing the death penalty for terrorists. Ben-Gvir is adamant about a refusal to sit with any Arab lawmakers in government, regardless of how moderate they may be. The party advocates, at least ostensibly, for the safety of Jews wherever they are.
In contrast with many prior far right leaders, Ben-Gvir is addressing a larger audience than the Religious Zionism base. He frequently mentions helping soldiers — most of them aren’t Religious Zionists. Also, he mentions a possible solution to the housing crisis, a mainstream problem, by suggesting to build apartments in the Negev area — an area which is a right wing stronghold and many Arabs live in. He also tries to be confrontational with the Kibbutzim, exacerbating tensions within Israeli society and trying to appeal to Mizrahi resentment against them. Kibbutzim are small communities that specialize in agriculture and are the traditional stronghold of the Labor Party, and now vote overwhelmingly for the center left.
Recently, Otzma Yehudit has seen a major uptick in popularity, and there are many potential reasons for the sudden spike of support.
The primary reason for Otzma Yehudit’s success is the downfall of former prime minister Neftali Bennett. Bennett used to lead the “Liberal” stream of Religious Zionism, which is less religious, and does not emphasize the issue of Jewish sovereignty as much, focusing more on right wing economics and judicial policy. In the last election, Bennett’s decision to head a center-left government without Netanyahu, followed by the collapse of his coalition, led to his political demise and the loss of his right wing base. Many of his former voters found their home in the far right side of Religious Zionism.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that this is not a story about those on the left embracing the far right, Ben-Gvir’s surge comes from the right wing becoming more extreme. The party of Ben-Gvir and his ally, Betzalel Smotrich, is able to bring more voters into the fold than ever before, with the blessing of former Bennett voters and some Likud voters as well.
Today’s Religious Zionism is a more extreme version than its past self — a difference that is reflected in the movement’s leadership. Itamar Ben-Gvir is a man who once identified as a supporter of the right-wing terrorist Meir Kahane and who, until recently, had the image of Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish extremist who massacred 29 Muslims in a mosque in 1994, in his living room. Also, Ben-Gvir was caught on tape holding the Cadillac symbol from then Prime Minister Itzhack Rabin’s vehicle in 1995, saying:” Just as we reached that symbol, we can reach Rabin.” Rabin was a pro-peace prime minister who was assassinated on November 4th, 1995 by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir.
Kahanism, Ben-Gvir’s ideology, was once considered unpalatable in Israeli political discourse. In the 1980s, Likud lawmakers famously walked out of the Knesset chamber while Kahane gave speeches, sending a message that his views are illegitimate. Today, however, Benjamin Netanyahu has not denounced Ben-Gvir, and doesn’t rule him out as a future member of a Netanyahu coalition. In fact, Bibi has personally pushed for a joint run of Ben-Gvir and other far right parties, such as Smotrich’s “National Union,” so that the right wing bloc won’t lose any votes to the electoral threshold. This alarms many, because Ben-Gvir would be the king maker if the right wing block gets a slim majority, and in that scenario, he can push a significant portion of his far right agenda through. In fact, Otzma Yehudit’s views today are seen as acceptable by many Likud MK’s who identify as far right as well.
This far right agenda is being practiced on the campaign trail by using violent rhetoric against Arab lawmakers. The far right also has a focus on the idea of Jewish sovereignty in Israel and the West Bank, while implying that Jews are superior to the area’s Arab co-residents. This supremacist position conflicts with basic liberal Democratic values of equal citizenship. Ben-Gvir also calls all Arab MK’s terrorists, while saying that these so-called “terrorists” should be deported. This is an important rhetorical tactic. Deportation of enemy insurgents is an idea that many Israelis, especially on the right, can agree with on paper. From there, Ben-Gvir extends the definition of “terrorist” to meet his needs.
Throughout the campaign, Ben-Gvir has focused on implying his supremacist messaging, but stopping just short of saying exactly what he means. This strategy has its origins in the fact that two of his party members, Bentzi Gupstein and Baruch Marzel, were disqualified from running for the Knesset by the Israeli supreme court. Both were right-wing extremists, and one of them founded an organization that tries to prevent marriage between Jews and Arabs. In her disqualification ruling, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut wrote that “the picture that emerges from the evidence that has been presented is clear: Those are horrific displays of systemic incitement of racism aimed at the Arab public. Gupstein is portraying this public as an enemy, and as a body that shouldn’t have any connection that might be perceived as co-existence.”
Far right rhetoric focuses on the enemy from within, such as Arab lawmakers and even regular Israeli Arab citizens, viewing them as a potential threat to Jewish sovereignty. The craze is not unlike a sort of a modern day McCarthyism, targeting people who aren’t Zionists or “loyal” to the state, while wrapping up many who are. This approach gained greater popularity within the right after the May 2021 riots in Israel. During a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, violence broke out in Israeli-Arab cities and towns, in which Israeli Jews and Arabs fought on the streets. Those events brought to light the constant quiet tensions between Israeli Jews and Arabs, and the fact that they can explode at any time. The far right plays on that fear and exaggerates threats for its own gain. Using fear mongering tactics on Israeli Jews, people like Ben-Gvir tell them that the country is in an existential crisis because of these threats and that they must be solved with force — hence the term “Jewish power.” Jews should not have the slightest fear in their own land, they argue. And this safety is to come by any means necessary, even undemocratic and violent ones.
Ben-Gvir also enjoys media attention from mainstream Israeli channels such as 12 and 13. He had the 5th largest number of showings on Israeli television and radio among Israeli politicians during 2021 — and this was before this election cycle, when he was a backbencher in the opposition. This media attention has been scrutinized by media observers and journalists, accusing the media of normalizing Ben-Gvir. Channel 13 anchor Hila Korach, said in an amazing admission, that Ben-Gvir gets this amount of attention because he comes to interviews when he is being called. A significant contributing factor to this is the inordinate amount of airtime that is dedicated to news in channels 12 and 13. After a recent regulation that said that the main news telecast must end at 9:15 PM, channels 12 and 13 decided to cover news from 3 PM to 9:15 PM. The reason behind the change is economic — it’s cheaper to produce news shows than scripted series. Ben-Gvir is a great way for the channels to fill their abundant airtime.
Ben-Gvir also uses the fact that he is Jewish to normalize himself within the right and the media, to show that he is on their side, and to gain familiarity. He said to Ayala Hason on channel 13 on Arab lawmakers, “I’m not the enemy of the state Israel, I defend the soldiers, I love the country. They hate our country. If it depends on them, you will not live in Tel Aviv. You wouldn’t be able to live here. They are against you, they are against me, they are against everything that moves.” He also makes a distinction between Jews and Arabs, saying “Our girls are being harassed, Jews are being beaten because they are Jews,” after giving a list of cities where there were violent clashes between Jews and Arabs. The party is aiming to represent Jewish interests almost exclusively, as if Jews aren’t the clear majority in Israel. This approach is successful and has been able to sway Likud lawmakers. MK May Golan has said: “I prefer 20 Ben-Gvirs to Mansur Abbas, Ahmad Tibi, Merav Michaeli, and Tamar Zandberg,” in reference toArab and left wing secular Jewish lawmakers. Ben-Gvir also frequently posts pictures of his family to help with this normalization attempt.
Another factor that has brought the far right to such heights is Netanyahu’s legal troubles. After his many corruption scandals, center left parties shunned Netanyahu, viewing him as a threat to Israel’s democratic values and culture. As a result, Netanyahu, who wants to win at all costs, looked for new allies, however extreme they may be. Netanyahu wants to get to the magic number for a majority, 61 seats, in order to pass judicial reforms that would cancel or delay his trial. For that, he has to have every right wing vote on his side, hence the mainstreaming of Ben-Gvir. Netanyahu didn’t used to be a hard right politician. While he used right wing nationalist rhetoric throughout his career, he still tried to appeal to the center. When the investigations into him began, his support from the center evaporated with many thinking he should leave office and hand the keys to a different Likud leader. On the other hand, the investigations have strengthened the support for him within Likud and the right. He managed to turn his trial into a crusade. There are pseudo-intellectuals who are talking about how his trial is similar to how the Labor party culturally oppressed Mizrahi citizens during the beginning of Israel’s existence. At the same time, attacking the justice system became commonplace for Likud politicians, after previously being exclusive to the far right. Netanyahu has attacked his investigators, saying the state should investigate them instead. He also attacked the prosecutors in his case and right wing personalities have started to target them frequently on Twitter, and on the fringe channel 20 (now channel 14).
Netanyahu has created a propaganda machine on social media, radio, and television that repeats his messaging. This self-promotion has helped establish a bond of interests between the far right and Netanyahu on the judicial front. Now Likud voters are as angry at the justice system as the far right has traditionally been, bringing the two groups closer at the ideological level. In short, when Netanyahu figured that he was doomed on the center left, he made the a political calculation and moved closer to the far right and its politics, especially on the judicial front, further normalizing Ben-Gvir in the process.
That is the tragic story of how a dangerous bond was created. A bond that has strengthened the most extremist forces in Israeli politics and turned them into mainstream ideas on the right. A bond that may come to rule Israel for the foreseeable future.
