Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Nationalist — a Conservative ally — Will Israel Maintain a Relationship with the Biden Administration?

Religious fundamentalists who support weakens of Israel’s Supreme Court are part of Netanyahu’s new government, as well as those who oppose gay rights and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Jewish nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who met with Netanyahu on Monday, is expected to become a senior Cabinet minister. He could face a boycott by the Biden administration according to an Obama administration official.

“I think the U.S. is likely to boycott him,” said David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who worked on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks under former President Barack Obama. “I have reason to think that they are strongly considering this.”

Ben-Gvir was sentenced for inciting anti-Arab racism by an Israeli court but he was allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a sacred Muslim site that has been at the center of violent protests by Palestinians. “We are the caretakers of the house here,” Ben-Gvir said.

Makovsky thinks that having someone who’s going to play with matches is a real danger. “If Netanyahu feels that he can change the position of itamar, he’s going to be swimming upstream.”

Netanyahu has sought to calm fears, assuring his government’s policy would be “responsible” without “pointless adventures.” Ben-Gvir says in an op-ed he’s moderated.

Danny Danon, a Netanyahu ally hoping to be the next speaker of parliament, argues Israel will maintain good ties with the Biden administration because Netanyahu, not Ben-Gvir, will be in charge of that relationship.

“I think all the issue of Ben-Gvir, it’s overblown,” Danon told NPR. “We will be running the government, and we will be dealing with the important issues … and we proved in the past that we can be responsible about many of the issues, concerning foreign and domestic issues.”

Sara Greenberg, who served as Netanyahu’s adviser from 2018 to 2019 on foreign affairs and worldwide Jewish communities, warned about allowing “extremism” in the upcoming Cabinet.

“Any move perceived as infringing on Israel’s democratic and pluralistic nature will have a damaging effect on Israel’s relationship with world Jewry, not to mention the free world,” Greenberg told NPR. “The strength of Israel’s democracy — and also its relationship with world Jewry — hinges on how the government portfolios are assigned and how the coalition acts.”

Netanyahu promised to legalized wildcat settlement outposts in the coalition agreement with the Religious Zionism party. He also promises to annex the West Bank “while choosing the timing and considering the national and international interests of the state of Israel.”

The agreements released a day before the new government is to be inaugurated have language backing discrimination against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Polygamy (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer) community, as well as stipends for ultra-Orthodox men who prefer to study instead of

The package laid the groundwork for what is expected to be a chaotic beginning to the country’s most religious and right-wing government in history which may put it at odds with a large part of the Israeli public and could result in tensions with the Palestinians.

The guidelines made a commitment to “advance and develop settlement in all parts of the land of Israel,” including Judea and the West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank in 1967 along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — territory the Palestinians seek for a future state. Around half a million Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in Jewish settlements in Israel.

The establishment of a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem as its capital can be used to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Palestinian leadership told a request for comment.

Without a negotiated two-state solution, “there will be no peace, security or stability in the region,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

After serving 12 years as prime minister, Netanyahu was ousted from office last year. His new government is made up of ultra-Orthodox parties, a far-right ultranationalist religious faction affiliated with the West Bank settler movement and his Likud party.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician, will be in charge of the national police force and the new national security minister, thanks to the deal.

It is a commitment to increase government funding for Israeli settlements in the West Bank city of Hebron because of the small ultranationalist Jewish community that lives there. A nearby settlement has a man living in it.

The agreement says that the country’s anti- discrimination laws will be changed to allow businesses to refuse service to people because of religious beliefs.

The legislation drew outrage earlier this week when members of Ben-Gvir’s party said the law could be used to deny services to LGBTQ people. The clause in the coalition agreement was left but Netanyahu said he wouldn’t let the law pass.

He leveled criticism at the military government that controls key aspects of life in Israeli settlements for beingeckless. Smotrich, who will also be finance minister, is expected to push to expand construction and funding for settlements while stifling Palestinian development in the territory.

Smotrich stated in an article that annexation would not happen immediately, but that political and legal status of the West Bank would not be changed.

Netanyahu and his allies also agreed to push through changes meant to overhaul the country’s legal system — specifically, a bill that would allow parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of 61 lawmakers.

The new government intends to weaken the Supreme Court, so we will not have the court as an institution that would help guard the principles of freedom and equality, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.

Ben Netanyahu-Gvir, the Flashpoint Temple Mount, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque: Israel’s Reply to King Abdullah II

Aryeh Deri and Ben Netanyahu-Gvir are both ministers who have criminal records. Deri, who served time in prison after being convicted of bribe money, was able to serve as a minister despite the fact that he pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Ben-Gvir was convicted in 2009 of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization.

In a rare meeting with one of the coalition’s most radical members, Israel’s figurehead president said he was worried about the incoming government’s stances on race, sexuality, and the Arab minority. Herzog urged Ben-Gvir to “calm the stormy winds.”

As far as the rules governing holy sites are concerned, including Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the platform mentioned they would remain the same.

Only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under the status quo agreement dating back to the Ottoman rule of Jerusalem. Israel and other states were in agreement to maintain status quo access after their capture of these holy sites.

If Israel tried to change the status of the sacred Jerusalem site over Jordan’s objections, King Abdullah II warned his country, according to an interview with CNN published Wednesday.

Tensions are high over the flashpoint complex, which is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the site of the destroyed first and second Jewish Temples. Ben Gvir believes Jews should be allowed to pray in the complex as well as Muslims.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, warned that Ben Gvir’s visit would be a “precursor for the ignition of the region” and it will be “pouring fuel over fire.”

“The Israeli government of which I am a member will not surrender to a vile murdering organization,” Ben Gvir responded in a tweet. “The Temple Mount is open to everyone and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, let them understand that times have changed. There is a government in Jerusalem.

Some religious nationalist Jewish groups have been demanding access to the Temple Mount area for Jewish prayer. There have been several instances of Jewish visitors conducting prayers on the compound, sparking outrage from Muslim authorities and forced removals by Israeli police.

Ben-Gvir visits the Temple Mount: Israeli actions against the most irresponsible man in the Middle East, Israel and the United Arab Emirates

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid criticized Netanyahu over the visit, calling him “weak” for entrusting the “most irresponsible man in the Middle East to the most explosive place in the Middle East.”

In a tweet, Lapid called the visit a “provocation that will lead to violence that will endanger human life and cost human lives,” and said that it’s time for Netanyahu to tell Ben Gvir, “you don’t go up to the Temple Mount because people will die.”

Jordan has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites since 1924 and is viewed as the guarantor of religion in the city by Muslims and Christians.

The United Arab Emirates, a key ally of Israel, says it is pushing, with China’s support, for the U.N. Security Council to discuss the situation. The meeting is supposed to take place Thursday, after the Palestinian ForeignMinistry urged the United Arab Emirates to request it.

The UAE was among the first Arab countries to criticize Ben-Gvir’s visit to the compound, and held calls with Turkey and Jordan on the matter. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Bahrain have all slammed the visit, with most of them calling it “provocative.”

Elham Fakhro, a Bahraini research fellow at the University of Exeter, says public opinion in the Gulf is largely opposed to Israeli actions against Palestinians, and is skeptical that formal ties with Arab states can change Israel’s policies.

I think that there has been a maturing of the relationship between the two sides. Fakhro, author of a forthcoming book on the U.S. brokered deals that made ties between Israel and the Gulf Arab countries of the Middle East, thinks that the people in the country are more confident in their relationship with Israel.

“They’re trying to use their influence,” she says of the UAE. Is Netanyahu going to be a willing partner in that?

“It’s outrageous. It’s totally intolerable,” former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tells NPR. I understand how international community feels.