Itamar Ben-Gvir: the real face of Israel
Israel does not have the luxury of shunning Ben-Gvir when he embarrasses it — he is the Lord of the Land. ■ Isn’t Jewish supremacy a revered value in the “Jewish democratic” “Jewish state”? It is a supreme value.
By Rogel Alpher • Translated by Sol Salbe
“No, you are not the face of Israel,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “The way Minister Ben Gvir treated the flotilla activists,” Prime Minister Netanyahu wrote, “is not consistent with Israel’s values and norms.” But why is that? What has Ben Gvir done that disqualifies him from being the face of Israel, and what is not consistent with its values? Well, he posted a recording of himself doing something. So far, normative behaviour in Israel? Normative. What did he record himself doing? Humiliating “supporters of Hamas terrorism.” That’s how Netanyahu defined them. This is how the broad Israeli consensus defines them. Isn’t it considered normative in Israel to humiliate “supporters of Hamas terrorism”? It is considered quite normative, even desirable, on the verge of being called for, bordering on necessary.
The video shows a security force member grabbing the back of the neck of an activist who was shouting “Free Palestine,” and pushing her down, violently bringing her down to her knees, before she’s dragged away with her hands tied behind her back. And wouldn’t an Israeli protester against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza be on the receiving end of exactly the same treatment? Of course they would be. Moreover, she would be ordered to strip for doing a lot less. It would have been enough for her daughter to have been observed singing a protest song outside a minister’s house.
This is Israel’s treatment of regime opponents protesting against government actions, just as the flotilla participants seek to protest against government actions in Gaza: brutal, humiliating, lordly, and silencing. Silencing criticism of the government by force is certainly a contemporary Israeli norm. So is the feedback Ben-Gvir gave to the security forces, when he hailed them as “good work.” He constantly compliments them when they do as he commands. He raised the Israeli flag and shouted “Welcome to Israel, we are the Lords of the Land.” So what’s new? [Last week] on Jerusalem Day, he went up to the Noble Sanctuary [Temple Mount/Haram Al Shrif] and raised the flag there to show that “[this government] has brought governance back.” He does this sort of thing all the time.
The flotilla activists were ordered to kneel, their heads bowed, their hands tied, with the Israeli national anthem in the background. Isn’t this an appropriate Zionist attitude toward neo-Nazi supporters? When some of them yelled out, Ben-Gvir walked by them and said, “Don’t be moved by the shouting.” These are expressions of Jewish supremacy. Isn’t Jewish supremacy a revered value in the “Jewish democratic” “Jewish state”? It is a supreme value.
Israel and its government do not have the luxury of shrugging off Ben-Gvir when he embarrasses them. He is its face, and indeed he is the Lord of the Land. Much more than the Eurovision delegation. And what he did to the flotilla participants, he — and his security forces — are dying to do to those voters in the upcoming elections who are also accused of supporting Hamas terrorism. He is not moved by their shouting either.
Translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe, Middle East News Service
Haaretz Hebrew original: (Original heading of article: Israel does not have the luxury of shunning Ben-Gvir when he embarrasses it — he is the Lord of the Land)
