Ben Gvir: Ballot for Religious Zionism is a vote for ‘full-on right-wing government’

KIRYAT ARBA, West Bank — Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben Gvir arrives in the southern West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba to cast his ballot in an election where his far-right party is expected to make significant gains.

The polling station in the town’s girls’ elementary school was nearly empty in the last round of elections about a year and a half ago when Ben Gvir arrived, but that was when he was still considered a fringe candidate, only squeaking into the Knesset after three failed tries thanks to a merger brokered by Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu.

This time, over a dozen reporters and cameramen are waiting for Ben Gvir, and several security guards are surrounding him.

“With one ballot slip, you get [Likud chairman Benjamin] Netanyahu as prime minister along with a full-on right-wing government,” he declares after casting his ballot.

The photographers stand behind the polling station committee snapping the typical Election Day picture, while just outside the room hangs a large sign that declares, “Photography in the polling station is against the law.”

As he walks back to his car mobbed by media, Ben Gvir jokes to this reporter, “You were the only one here last time.”