From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Ben Gvir says he would be happy to live in Gaza after war, calls for mass settlement
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he would be “very happy to live in Gaza” following the war, musing that a mass exodus of Palestinians could create room for a significant influx of Israeli settlers.
In an interview with Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat, Ben Gvir says that he would like to see the war prosecuted throughout the southern city of Rafah, followed by a complete Israeli occupation in which Jerusalem would rule the coastal territory “unequivocally.”
This would entail the reestablishment of Jewish settlements — “but that’s not enough,” he continues, reiterating his call to encourage the “voluntary emigration” of Gazans, although he stipulated that he was “not saying everyone” should leave.
Not only should Israelis return to the settlements evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza, Ben Gvir says, but if “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians leave the Strip “we will be able to bring in more and more people.”
“I would be very happy to live in Gaza,” he says.
