'Interesting Bedfellows': In U.S. Media, Netanyahu Offers Strongest Defense Yet of Far-right Allies - Israel News - Haaretz.com
WASHINGTON – Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday offered his strongest defense to date of his emerging far-right coalition – and particularly Kahanist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir – in an interview with the U.S. National Public Radio on Thursday.
While Netanyahu has addressed the coalition in interviews with the likes of Bari Weiss, NBC's Meet the Press and Fox News, his interview with NPR's Morning Edition found him addressing growing concerns within America, and among the U.S. Jewish population in particular, about the nature of his partners. He also addressed apprehensions regarding individual figures, such as Kahanist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir.
"Coalitions make interesting bedfellows," Netanyahu said, adding that "they are joining me. I'm not joining them." This is a repeated refrain from interviews past: He, the left-most member of his coalition, will be maintaining policy decisions, he has claimed, and won't cede any significant decision-making to his far-right partners.
This is incongruous with the appointments he has promised in the weeks since November's election, and the blitz of laws introduced to the Knesset that would grant his allies significant new powers, including granting Ben-Gvir sole control over policing policy and making the police chief directly subordinate to him.
Addressing the broadened authorities of Ben-Gvir's ministerial portfolio, Netanyahu posited that the lawmaker, who will be appointed national security minister, would moderate his tone upon entering his new senior role.
"With power comes responsibility. Not always, sometimes it works the other way around. … And certainly [it's one thing to speak in] political campaigns a decade-and-a-half ago, and it's another to actually be in a position of responsibility in governance, and I certainly will ensure that that will be the case," Netanyahu said.
Israel's police chief warned Knesset lawmakers that Ben-Gvir's authority over the police in his newly created position could have a "dramatic effect – not only on the activity of the police but also its reputation in the eyes of the public."
Ben-Gvir heads the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) faction, a successor to Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach party, whose violent anti-Arab racism led to it being banned in both the United States and Israel. Netanyahu noted that Ben-Gvir was thrust into power due to the erosion of internal security in Israel.
"I have to say [Ben-Gvir's party ran on that. He says, 'I want to be tested. I think I can bring security to Arabs, the Arab citizens and Jews, citizens alike.' ... That was his campaign promise. We have a coalition. I said you will be given the chance. You'll be given the tools. You better do the job. And I think that time will see," Netanyahu said.
The Otzma Yehudit leader's election campaign drummed up fear regarding Israel's Arab population and the country's ostensibly center-left politicians who cooperated with political leaders from the Arab community. But Netanyahu added that Ben-Gvir's promises and previous remarks that Arabs should be expelled are not to be heeded. "What will be the test is not whether you believe him or not, but whether you see an actual result. The same is true of me. The jury is out on all of this."
Beyond Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu's coalition is set to be the most right-wing in Israel's history, including the anti-LGBTQ Noam faction, Bezalel Smotrich's far-right Religious Zionism and other figures with histories of anti-Arab statements. They are slated to control portfolios related to the economy, the police, the civil administration in the West Bank and key aspects of Israel’s education system.