Netanyahu's ultranationalist minister pick concerns US
American officials are warning opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu that including ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir in a possible future cabinet would damage Israel’s relations with its great ally.
A senior American official expressed concerns recently over the possibility that ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir would be appointed minister in the next government if opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu gets 61 mandates.
Ben Gvir, who heads the far-right Jewish Power party, had joined forces in August with Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich. The two parties will run on one ticket at the Nov. 1 elections. Both men are taking off in the public opinion surveys. Ben Gvir in particular enjoys growing popularity among young and ultra-Orthodox voters.
Israel Hayom newspaper quoted Sept. 29 an unnamed Biden administration official saying that should Netanyahu win the elections, and should he appoint Ben Gvir as minister in his Cabinet, "it would be a huge problem for us."
The report also quoted an unnamed Jewish American leader saying that an appointment of Ben Gvir would make it very hard on US Jewry to defend Israel. “In US terms, it is like the Ku Klux Klan in the Israeli government,” he noted.
