Itamar Ben-Gvir

Ben-Gvir repeatedly visited the Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount compound and asserted the right of Jews to pray there, while Israel's official status quo maintains restrictions on non-Muslim prayer. His initiatives prompted Palestinian, Jordanian and international condemnation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In June 2025, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway announced sanctions against Ben-Gvir, accusing him of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. In 2026, France also advocated restrictive measures targeting the minister, including an entry ban announced earlier in the year.

Attribution

Personally implicated

In June 2026, Italian prosecutors opened an investigation involving Ben-Gvir concerning the treatment of Italian activists arrested following the interception of a flotilla bound for Gaza, after allegations of abduction and ill-treatment.

Attribution

Personally implicated

In August 2026, Ben-Gvir stated in a podcast that Israel should kill "30 to 40" people in Gaza every night through targeted strikes and again supported the return of Israeli settlements to the enclave and the emigration of Palestinians.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

NGOs and the Attorney General maintained that Ben-Gvir improperly interfered in operational police decisions and promotions, compromising police independence. The dispute prompted petitions to the High Court seeking his removal and, in 2026, an expanded bench examined whether he should remain in office.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Following the adoption in March 2026 of a law requiring the death penalty in certain terrorism cases heard by military courts, Ben-Gvir released a video in August from a site presented as intended for hangings. Critics denounced legislation they considered discriminatory, whose scope would in practice primarily affect Palestinians.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Following the extensive relaxation of firearms licensing rules after 7 October, an investigation examined licences issued by temporary personnel and staff at the National Security Ministry. Police data cited in the proceedings identified 1,146 temporary or permanent licences issued outside the authorised criteria.

Ben-Gvir advocated reducing conditions for security prisoners to what he considered the legal minimum. In September 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the state was not providing sufficient food to ensure a basic standard of subsistence and ordered improvements.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Ben-Gvir and his party left the coalition in January 2025 to protest the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. In March, after Israeli strikes resumed, he announced his return to government.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In early 2024, Ben-Gvir called for encouraging the emigration of Gaza's population and allowing Israeli settlers to return to the enclave. He reiterated these positions at a conference of settler movements attended by several ministers.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

During an altercation with Arab security guards in Tel Aviv in December 2021, Ben-Gvir drew his firearm. Prosecutors reviewed the incident and closed the case in September 2023, finding insufficient grounds for a reasonable prospect of conviction for threats.

Attribution

Personally implicated

An Israeli court convicted Ben-Gvir in 2007 of offences including incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organisation, based on signs and publications linked to the Kahanist movement. His appeal resulted in partial changes to certain charges and the sentence, but the principal convictions for incitement and support remained.

Attribution

Personally implicated