Since taking power in 2022, ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have continuously shaped state policy regarding the West Bank and Gaza while threatening coalition collapse to resist international pressure. Smotrich has utilized his authority over state budgets and West Bank institutions to expand settlements, facing blame for escalating settler violence. Meanwhile, Western nations including Ireland and the Netherlands have imposed sanctions in response to the far-right leadership's actions. Both ministers are actively resisting unity talks with former military chief-of-staff Gadi Eisenkot to preserve their institutional gains.
Key points
The institutional entrenchment of far-right policies will remain difficult for any replac…: The institutional entrenchment of far-right policies will remain difficult for any replacement administration to dismantle.
Political hardliners have successfully dictated policies regarding aid blockades, Gaza an…: Political hardliners have successfully dictated policies regarding aid blockades, Gaza annexation, and civilian casualties during wartime.
Ministerial allies are actively working to sabotage potential unity negotiations between…: Ministerial allies are actively working to sabotage potential unity negotiations between traditional rivals to protect their political leverage.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Israel’s far right is accused of embedding a hardline agenda so deeply that reversing it may prove almost impossible.
As Israel’s opposition looks to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speculation has centred on the possible fate of the current government’s more hardline, right-wing elements, including the parties led by the unapologetically pro-settler Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, convicted of inciting terrorism.
While all members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, with the unflinching backing of the opposition politicians hoping to supplant them, have supported Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and attacks on regional states, it is Smotrich and Ben-Gvir who have been the focus of international attention and lightning rods for criticism by Western governments.
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