Religious Zionism Party

MK Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) faction of the Religious Zionist party, raises an Israeli flag in Safra Square in Jerusalem on April 20, 2022, at the start of a planned nationalist march. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

April 20, 2022, 10:08 pm

Itamar Ben Gvir’s incendiary patriot games

MK banned from Damascus Gate presents himself as a flag-waving defender of Israel, but shows indifference to the deadly dangers, including to Israelis, he risks exacerbating

By David Horovitz

Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas, left, and United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher during a vote on the ultra-Orthodox draft bill at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on January 31, 2022. (Flash90)

March 10, 2022, 7:15 pm

Citizenship Law likely to pass tonight, as Ra’am threatens to vote no confidence

After weeks of extensive negotiations, controversial legislation expected to pass with help from opposition; Ra’am to vote against, even if bill becomes a confidence vote

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

A scuffle between lawmakers in the Knesset plenum's back hallway, March 2, 2022. (screenshot)

March 2, 2022, 11:45 am

MKs scuffle after settlers arrested for assaulting IDF troops, Palestinians

Commotion breaks out after Knesset speaker boots far-right MKs for yelling in protest over arrests of Homesh yeshiva students; usher accidentally struck in the face

By TOI staff

MK Bezalel Smotrich visits the illegal outpost of Evyatar, in the West Bank, on June 27, 2021 (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

February 10, 2022, 12:02 pm

Under fire from mainstream UK Jews, Smotrich says ‘small group’ wants to silence him

Likud party decries ‘blunt and shameful’ statement by Jewish umbrella organization saying far-right MK is unwelcome in Britain

By Tobias Siegal

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speak, during the swearing-in ceremony for President Isaac Herzog, on July 7, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

December 29, 2021, 11:41 am

Gantz’s right-wing coalition partners assail him for hosting PA chief Abbas

Minister Elkin notes the Palestinian leader ‘wants the ICC to jail the defense minister as a war criminal’; PM Bennett reportedly exasperated; but the left praises him

By Michael Bachner

Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben Gvir attends an Internal Security Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on December 7, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

December 22, 2021, 5:01 pm

Far-right MK Ben Gvir summoned by Knesset security over gun incident in parking lot

Lawmaker prompts outrage after brandishing pistol during argument in Tel Aviv; attendant who clashed with him says weapon was handed over by someone else

By Stuart Winer

Screen capture from video of MK Itamar Ben Gvir, with a pistol in his right hand, during an altercation with Arab security guards at the Expo Tel Aviv conference center, December 21, 2021. (Twitter)

December 22, 2021, 11:03 am

Far-right MK Ben Gvir pulls gun on Arab security guards in clash over parking

Lawmaker says he felt his life was in danger as one guard threatened him with violence; video clips show guard and MK trading threats in underground Tel Aviv lot

By Stuart Winer

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid speaks during memorial ceremony marking 26 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, at the Knesset, on October 18, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

October 18, 2021, 10:40 pm

Lapid: Rabin assassin’s ‘ideological heirs’ are serving in Knesset today

At parliament memorial for slain PM, FM swipes at Netanyahu, who brokered the deal that made a Kahanist an MK; opposition chair responds that left is abusing Rabin’s memory

By TOI staff

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rotman is seen during a plenum session in the assembly hall of the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on October 13, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 13, 2021, 8:08 pm

Coalition fells opposition’s immigration legislation in preliminary vote

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rotman had been negotiating with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked over the bill, but they failed to reach agreement

By TOI staff

Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich addresses a Knesset plenum session on the state budget on September 2, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

October 13, 2021, 6:58 pm

Smotrich at Knesset: Ben-Gurion should have ‘finished the job,’ thrown out Arabs

Joint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman decries the ‘fascist filth’ to which she says Arabs are regularly subjected

By Amy Spiro

Labor MK Efrat Rayten (left) and Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman. (Flash90)

August 4, 2021, 7:07 pm

No Likud rep as coalition, opposition MKs elected to judicial selection panel

Labor’s Efrat Rayten and Simcha Rothman of Religious Zionism chosen to serve as Knesset representatives on the powerful committee

By TOI staff

MK David Bitan at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 7, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

July 21, 2021, 4:41 pm

Likud MK suspended from managing Knesset plenum after apparently fudging vote

Speaker to file ethics complaint against David Bitan after fellow opposition lawmaker Ben Gvir’s ballot left out of final count for bill, despite apparently voting in favor

By TOI staff

The illegal settlement outpost of Evyatar, in the West Bank, on June 27, 2021. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

June 27, 2021, 2:39 pm

‘Bring tents’: Evyatar activists try to stop razing of illegal West Bank outpost

Opposition MKs visit illegal settlement site set to be demolished within days, call on government to intervene and prevent evacuation order

By TOI staff

A structure is demolished at the Oz Zion illegal outpost north of Jerusalem, June 23, 2021 (video screenshot)

June 23, 2021, 11:36 am

7 arrested as Border Police demolish illegal West Bank Jewish outpost

Several people at Oz Zion reported to hurl objects at forces and attempt to barricade themselves inside a building

By TOI staff

Head of the Religious Zionism Party MK Bezalel Smotrich gives a press statement at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 21, 2021. (Olivier FItoussi/Flash90)

June 22, 2021, 5:22 pm

Far-right MKs heckled, harassed by angry protesters in Sheikh Jarrah

‘Why are you here? You’re garbage, you’re a cockroach,’ Palestinian resident of the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood shouts at Religious Zionism party leader Smotrich

By TOI staff