Israeli extremist MK to escalate targeting of Palestinians, Arabs if he became minister

Leader of Israel’s far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, extremist MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, has three goals if he became Internal Security Minister in the upcoming government to be formed by Head of the Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu, a close source revealed as reported by the Jerusalem Post newspaper on Thursday.

According to the source, Ben-Gvir will focus on fighting terrorism against Jews and will designate areas where Jews are prohibited from entering, which means that he will escalate the aggression of Israeli police and settlers against the Palestinians.

The source added that Ben-Gvir will also focus on fighting crime in the Arab community in Israel and will make dramatic changes in the Israeli security forces, and will try to address the Arab public directly and not through dialogue with Arab politicians.

The source added that Ben-Gvir’s second goal is to “link between religion and the State and conservative attitudes”.

According to the source, Ben-Gvir’s third goal is to fight “infiltrators”, referring to African asylum seekers and foreign citizens permanently residing in Israel.

Ben- Gvir’s appointment could possibly strain relations between Israel and the United States.

On Wednesday, Israeli Walla website quoted senior American officials as saying that the Biden administration may refuse to work with Ben-Gvir after he becomes a minister.

The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan 11, has also quoted a White House official as saying that it would be “difficult” for the US administration to deal with Ben-Gvir as a minister which, according to Walla, would be “unprecedented” in Israeli-American relations and would have a very negative impact on relations between the two countries.

Walla added that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, hinted to Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, during his visit to Washington last week, that there was a possibility the Biden administration would not work with Ben-Gvir and other far-right officials in the upcoming Israeli government.

Walla explained that the Biden administration is particularly concerned about the racist statements and positions of Ben-Gvir and members of his Party against the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as against the Arab citizens of Israel.
In the event that Ben-Gvir takes over the position of Minister of Internal Security, he will be responsible for the police apparatus and the Israeli policy in the holy places in Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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