Two far-right lawmakers want Mr. Netanyahu to appoint them to positions of power in Israel’s security system – and one immediately used Wednesday’s explosion to give impetus to efforts. their.
Itamar Ben-Gvirwho was seeking to lead the department of public safety, a powerful role that would put him in control of the police, rushed to an explosion site and called for a swift end to union talks .
“We have to form a government as quickly as possible,” Mr. Ben-Gvir said. “Terror does not wait.”
Ben-Gvir told reporters at the scene that Israel’s security forces needed to “get back to controlling the state of Israel and back to stopping terrorism.” “This is organized terrorism and today’s terrorism pays a very heavy price,” he added.
Ben-Gvir’s party performed better than ever in this month’s election, after campaigning on the promise of tougher action against both armed Palestinians and citizens. Israel, which he called “disloyal” to Israel.
Mr. Ben-Gvir has a history of incitement against Arabs, including a criminal record for racist charges, and once hung a portrait in the home of an Israeli extremist who killed 29 Palestinians at a mosque. West Bank mosque in 1994.
Ben-Gvir’s rise has alarmed Palestinians, as well as threatened retaliation. On Wednesday morning, a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, told a Palestinian radio station that the attack sent a message to the Israeli right, mentioning Ben-Gvir by name, as well as Mr. Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right leader who wants to oversee the Israeli Army.
Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, describe the attacks as a response to Israeli attacks earlier this year at the Aqsa Mosque complex in the Old City Jerusalem, but did not accept responsibility.
