By exploiting Netanyahu’s weakness, Ben Gvir is raking in political capital
PM apparently fails to realize that by attacking Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, Ben Gvir is asserting himself as the master of the house, and eating into Netanyahu’s own support
Shalom Yerushalmi is the political analyst for Zman Israel, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew current affairs website
Tens of thousands, or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of party funding have been invested by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his people into placing newspaper propaganda ads against Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
In the ads published across entire pages on Sunday, a large photo of the security agency’s director could be seen with the attached caption: “Ronen Bar failed on October 7 and is leading Israel into another disaster. We’re saying no to a reckless deal.”
The head of the Shin Bet is a civil servant. He cannot respond to Ben Gvir on the Shin Bet’s dime and publish his own ads against him.
Last week, Bar sent a letter sharing a professional opinion regarding the danger posed by Ben Gvir, after he ascended Temple Mount on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av and effectively altered the fragile status quo that governs the holy site.
The letter was sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other ministers and was published on Channel 12.
Ben Gvir and violent settlers in the West Bank are seeking to destabilize Israel, Bar said, warning that moving in that direction would “lead to bloodshed and unrecognizably change the face of the State of Israel.”
Ben Gvir awaited his moment to get back at Bar, and on Sunday came out with his unprecedented ads.
Bar, who cannot publicly comment, perhaps expected the prime minister to defend his honor and enforce some governmental order. Netanyahu responded with a mild rebuke aimed in Ben Gvir’s direction, saying during a cabinet meeting that “even if you want to criticize, there is a way to do it.”
Netanyahu didn’t fire Ben Gvir for his stunt, nor did he even threaten to fire him if he continues acting this way — and continue he will.
The bottom line is that the attack against Bar is good for Netanyahu right now. Anyone who tarnishes the legitimacy of the security service heads and blames them for October 7 helps to distance Netanyahu from the sphere of responsibility. Sometimes it’s Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem doing this, sometimes it’s Transportation Minister Miri Regev, sometimes it’s Likud MK Tali Gotliv and sometimes it’s Ben Gvir. As far as the prime minister is concerned, the more the merrier.
Ben Gvir did not let up at Sunday afternoon’s cabinet meeting. There, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stood up to defend the Shin Bet head and said he was “shocked” by the ads — and even more so that they came at the taxpayer’s expense.
Ben Gvir retorted that if Bar is allowed to send letters warning against him, he is allowed to publish such ads. Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel agreed with the defense minister, while Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi attacked Gallant, who responded: “I’m happy you’ve joined Ben Gvir’s party.”
Netanyahu himself doesn’t seem to understand that Ben Gvir is attacking the Shin Bet head, but is in reality targeting him. Ben Gvir is presenting Netanyahu to the hard right on a near-daily basis as weak, and is building himself up as the deciding voice — on the Temple Mount, on policing, on policy relating to the hostages, and in general.
On Sunday, the cabinet also unanimously approved the appointment of Ben Gvir’s candidate for police commissioner, Daniel Levy.
“Danny is coming in with a Zionist and Jewish agenda, and he will enact my policy,” Ben Gvir announced.
Ben Gvir is eyeing Netanyahu and Likud’s voters. It’s not just Karhi whose position matches that of Ben Gvir’s party. More than a third of Likud MKs are aligned with it, including Social Equality Minister May Golan — who was active in Otzma Yehudit at a local level — Nissim Vaturi, Hanoch Milwidsky, Ariel Kellner, Amit Halevi, Avihai Boaron, Osher Shekalim, Dan Ilouz and of course Gotliv. All of them are “Ben Gvir-ists,” and could find themselves on a future Otzma Yehudit candidate slate.
Ben Gvir still believes he did the right thing when he went up to the Temple Mount and allowed religious worship to be held there, contrary to the status quo and despite Bar’s warnings of the risk of conflagration.
Indeed, Ben Gvir upped the ante on Monday, when he again declared that Israeli policy is that Jewish prayer is permitted on the mount — and was again merely contradicted by Netanyahu in a statement — and said he’d fly the national flag there and build a synagogue if only he could.
“We went up, we went down, we prayed — and nothing happened,” a source close to the minister said of the minister’s Tisha B’Av ascent to the mount, indicating that the provocations will continue.
And so will the confrontations with the Shin Bet head, as he tries to hold back Ben Gvir and the Kahanists in the government.
This article was translated from the original on The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site Zman Yisrael.
