Israel's right, threatened with possible electoral defeat, fractures and radicalizes

A campaign poster for Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu's party, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, along with a text in Hebrew that reads: "They want Netanyahu to lose, don't let them win." In Tel Aviv, Israel, August 17, 2026. AMIR COHEN/REUTERS The statements made by Itamar Ben-Gvir have crossed a new threshold of violence, racism and dehumanization of Palestinians every week. In mid-August, the Israeli national security minister called for killing "30 or 40" people each night in Gaza. "Not just those who pose an immediate threat: There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people," explained the candidate for the October 27 elections. On Sunday, August 30, the far-right leader proudly shared a video celebrating the abuse of Palestinian prisoners in the prisons under his authority. On Monday, he again went near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, as he regularly does, to provoke Muslims and appeal to the most extreme factions within Israeli Jewish society. The footage serves as a reminder of how the minister exulted in March the adoption of the death penalty law – which reinstated capital punishment solely for Palestinians – or, in May, when activists from the Gaza flotilla were subjected to serious violence after being detained by police officers acting under his direct orders. You have 85.99% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.