On 25 February 2019, Ben-Gvir said that Arab citizens of Israel who were not loyal to Israel "must be expelled".
[4]
Prior to entering office Ben-Gvir was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-American
mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others in
Hebron, in the 1994
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre;
[7][48] he removed the portrait in preparation for the
2020 Israeli legislative election in hope of being allowed to run on the unified right list headed by
Naftali Bennett.
[49]
In October 2021, Ben-Gvir and Joint List leader
Ayman Odeh had a physical confrontation during a visit to the
Kaplan Medical Center to see Miqdad Qawasmeh, a Hamas operative who had been on a hunger strike for over three months of his
administrative detention. Ben-Gvir was against Qawasmeh being treated in an Israeli hospital, and stated that he had visited to check the detainee's conditions, as well as to "see up close this miracle that a person remains alive despite not eating for several months". As Ben-Gvir attempted to enter Qawasmeh's room, he accused Odeh of being a terrorist for supporting extremists like Qawasmeh. Odeh then struck first, pushing Ben-Gvir, and the pair began to scuffle before being separated by bystanders.
[50] Ben-Gvir later filed a complaint against Odeh, claiming that he had "committed a serious criminal act".
[51]
In December 2021, Ben-Gvir was investigated after a video surfaced of him pulling a handgun on Arab security guards during a parking dispute in the underground garage of the Expo Tel Aviv conference center. The guards asked Ben-Gvir to move his vehicle as he was parked in a prohibited space. He then drew a pistol and brandished it at the guards.
[52] Both parties taunted each other, and Ben-Gvir claimed that he felt his life threatened. The guards were unarmed.
[53] He was criticized by lawmakers across the aisle, and the incident was investigated.
[54]
On October 13, 2022, in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of
East Jerusalem, Ben-Gvir took part in the clashes between Israeli Jewish settlers and the local Palestinian residents, brandishing a gun, telling the police to shoot at Palestinians throwing stones at the scene, and yelling at them that "We're the landlords here, remember that, I am your landlord."
[55] This was a message that was later repeated by him in a tweet on the morning after
the 2022 election in his victory
tweet.
[56]
On 3 January 2023, Ben Gvir, as national security minister, visited the
Temple Mount, which prompted a wave of international criticism from the United States, European Union, and Arab countries including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who termed his visit as provocative and called on Israel to respect the status quo of holy sites.
[13] Ben Gvir had been long accused of being a provocateur, having previously led several visits to the Temple Mount as activist and member of Knesset, contentious marches through Jerusalem's Old City Muslim Quarter, and set up an office in the
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood which witnessed Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
[13] On 8 January, he ordered Israeli police to remove Palestinian flags being flown in public, stating the flags symbolized terrorism.
[57]
In August 2023 he stated "My right, and my wife's and my children's right, to get around on the roads in Judea and Samaria is more important than the right to movement for Arabs".
[58] These comments were condemned by the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and the
US State Department as racist. The PA condemned "the racist and heinous remarks by Israel's fascist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, which only confirms Israel's
apartheid regime of Jewish supremacy and racial terror against the Palestinian people".
[59]
In early October 2023, following the arrest of 5
ultra-Orthodox Heredi Jews for spitting at Christians and outside churches, Ben-Gvir said it was "not a criminal case" following arrests.
[60] Prior to entering politics, he defended Jews spitting at Christians as "an ancient Jewish custom".
[61] After the
Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Ben Gvir said that "Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult events in its history. This is not the time for questions, tests and investigations."
[62]
In November 2023 he declared that "when they say that Hamas needs to be eliminated, it also means those who sing, those who support and those who distribute candy, all of these are terrorists."
[63][64] On 1 January 2024, Ben-Gvir said that the war with Hamas presented an "opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza."
[65] He has stated that "We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing".
[66]
Israeli sociologist
Eva Illouz has said Ben Gvir represents "
Jewish fascism".
[67]
