In Israel, the embattled left wing has stopped asking whether a figure as divisive as the far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir could reach the highest levels of power. Instead, the question has become: Can he be contained?
This past December, I flew to Europe to meet Gilad Sade, who was raised by Tiran Pollak, Kahane’s right-hand man, and served for years as one of Ben-Gvir’s closest confidants. On the phone, before our meeting, Sade asked that I not reveal his exact location. He hasn’t visited Israel in four years. “If I set foot in Jerusalem, they will break my bones,” he said.
In 2001, Hezbollah declared that it had a video documenting militants’ capture of three Israeli soldiers a year earlier. The United Nations also had video relevant to the kidnapping, but initially refused to hand over an unedited version to Israel. Many on the Israeli right were furious. One night that summer, according to Sade, Ben-Gvir told him to get a ski mask, then drove him to a U.N. base in East Jerusalem.
Two weeks after the recent election, Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, invited the wives of the incoming coalition leaders to brunch at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Jerusalem. A photograph of the event spread on social media.
About two hundred and twenty thousand Palestinians live next door, in an area of Hebron controlled by the Palestinian Authority. But in Ben-Gvir’s part of town Palestinians are forbidden to drive on many of the roads, and are barred from even walking on streets that are designated “sterile.” When I visited the area recently, a poster at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs announced, “It’s Ben-Gvir Time.
Netanyahu has little tolerance for lawmakers who are seen as insufficiently loyal, but Ben-Gvir treats him with deference. “Ben-Gvir admires him for real,” Crombie, the former campaign strategist, told me. Last summer, Netanyahu summoned members of the hard right to an informal summit in Caesarea, where he lives.
In 2005, following years of deadly attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza, the government of Ariel Sharon, an otherwise hawkish Prime Minister, unilaterally pulled out of the Gaza Strip. For Jewish settlers, who believe in Israel’s divine right to rule from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, the move was a calamity. Yet most responded to the evacuation of settlements with little violence.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ben Aaron Mourns Former Cohost Kellie Pickler’s Husband Kyle: Read NoteBen Aaron, who previously cohosted PicklerAndBen with Kellie Pickler, is honoring the legacy of the country singer’s late husband. 🕊
Read more »
New Ben Affleck film ‘Air’ tells a lesser-known Michael Jordan story | amNewYorkBen Affleck was 12 years old in 1984 and growing up in the Boston area. The Celtics were NBA champions. The Red Sox and Patriots were respectable. And that also was when Nike was betting much of its future on Michael Jordan.
Read more »
‘Manodrome’ & ‘Pig’ Producer Ben Giladi Launches Production Banner Liminal Content — EFMEXCLUSIVE: Pig and Manodrome producer Ben Giladi is formally launching his production banner Liminal Content at this year’s Berlin Film Festival where Manodrome debuted in Competition. The co…
Read more »
Video: Seattle Sea Dragons fumble XFL season opener away at the 1-yard lineIt was a 2nd half disasterclass from Ben DiNucci.
Read more »
Newly released Spencer W. Kimball diaries shine a light behind the scenes of modern MormonismThe former LDS president’s writings offer a peek behind the curtain of the 1978 priesthood/temple revelation and his relations with church leaders.
Read more »
Q&A: Ben Affleck talks new movie on Nike's pursuit of Michael Jordan, working with Matt Damon again'Air,' the new movie directed by Affleck and written by Alex Convery, tells the story of Nike’s pursuit to sign Michael Jordan and rescue the shoe and apparel company’s fledgling basketball division.
Read more »