Media Analysis

‘NYT’ covers up the rise of Jewish supremacist Ben-Gvir, as Netanyahu’s security minister

As expected, on November 25 Benjamin Netanyahu picked the racist, Jewish supremacist Itamar Ben-Gvir to be the powerful Minister of National Security in the next Israeli government.

As expected, the New York Times and the Washington Post are so far ignoring Ben-Gvir’s appointment, even though the dangerous consequences have already started. (National Public Radio, to its credit, did include a brief on-air report.)

Meanwhile, reporters and commentators at Haaretz, the indispensable Israeli daily, are already sounding the alarm about Ben-Gvir. Amos Harel, the paper’s unsentimental security correspondent, got straight to the point: “A few hours [after the appointment], a Givati Brigade soldier was filmed punching a leftist activist in Hebron, while his comrade explained to the camera that ‘Ben-Gvir will bring order. You’ve had it. I decide what the law is here.’”

Harel summarized, “The [Netanyahu] government is perceived, both by the extreme right as well as by soldiers, as license to use unlimited force against Arabs and an opportunity to make sure that leftists understand the new balance of power.”

This site has long argued that the New York Times and other U.S. media outlets distort their reporting from Israel/Palestine by covering up the racist far-right. Hiding the Ben-Gvir appointment and its immediate consequences is only the latest example. 

There is more. Haaretz also reported that Netanyahu is letting Ben-Gvir “substantially expand” his ministry, to include the Border Police in the West Bank, which were previously under Israeli army command. The paper quoted “a senior law enforcement source,” who warned that the change “turns the Border police into Ben-Gvir’s personal police in the territories.” And the same article also reported that outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz — who is no pacifist — accused Netanyahu of “creating a private army for Ben-Gvir in the West Bank,” adding that the move is “an admission that the real prime minister is going to be Ben-Gvir.”

In what world is this not breaking news, deserving of coverage? Tensions in the occupied Palestinian West Bank are already at their highest level in years, and yet Israel’s security policy is now in the hands of a fascist who was considered so extreme when he was younger that he wasn’t even allowed to serve as a foot soldier in the Israeli army.

Let’s contrast the U.S. mainstream silence with the Financial Times, the conservative, British pro-business newspaper. The FT ran a report within hours of the Ben-Gvir appointment, and in the second paragraph accurately described him as “an ultranationalist previously convicted of incitement to racism.”

Today’s New York Times did, thankfully, include an honest, valuable report by Raja Abdulrahim, from Gaza City. Here’s the print edition’s headline: “Israeli Blockade Takes Steep Toll on Gaza’s’ Fishing Industry (and Diet).” The report followed all the mainstream conventions, including giving Israeli authorities the opportunity to try and refute the allegations. We’ll wait to see if the paper can eventually apply the same standard to the Itamar Ben-Gvir story. 

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An Alarming Glimpse at What Far-right Oversight of Israel’s Army Looks Like – Haaretz Today – Haaretz.com
“An Alarming Glimpse at What Far-right Oversight of Israel’s Army Looks Like” Haaretz Today, Nov. 27/22
“Netanyahu’s silence about an Israeli soldier attacking a left-wing activist sends a clear message, Trump hosted a notorious antisemite. Most of the GOP stayed silent.” By Amir Tibon, Haaretz, Nov. 27/2022
“The chief of staff of the Israeli military is one of the toughest jobs in the world, with a long list of threats & concerns stretching from Iranian nukes to stabbings in Jerusalem. As if it wasn’t hard enough, he will now have to face another major problem: the appointment of Israel’s far-right leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to the newly created position of “National Security Minister.”
“Ben-Gvir’s appointment is bad news for current IDF chief of staff, Lt. General Aviv Kochavi, who has about two months left in office, & even worse news for his successor, Major General Herzi Halevi. Both of them are combat officers who served in the paratroopers’ brigade, fought in Lebanon & Gaza, & commanded military forces in the occupied territories, including in the bloody years of the Second Intifada. Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, was never drafted, & spent the same decades as a fringe provocateur who was convicted of racist incitement.
“Now, this man with no experience in matters of defense, will be sitting in Israel’s security cabinet, which oversees the actions of the military. We got a glimpse this weekend of what it could look like, when an Israeli soldier was filmed attacking an Israeli left-wing activist in Hebron, while his comrade giddily told the man behind the camera that ‘Ben-Gvir will bring order. You’ve had it.’
“Kochavi put out a statement denouncing the soldiers’ behavior & announcing their suspension. In his case, it’s too little, too late: violent incidents of this kind have been steadily on the rise for months, & his senior command has done very little to tackle the issue. Still, in this specific incident, he did the bare minimum of making clear that punching citizens for their political opinions is unacceptable. (cont’d)

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“Ben-Gvir, though, was quick to argue with Kochavi’s decision and called to investigate if the assaulted activist had “triggered” the soldiers. With all due respect to the military chiefs, the statement implied, there’s a new boss in town now. Benjamin Netanyahu, the incoming prime minister, stayed silent.
“His silence sends a strong message to Kochavi and the rest of the military leadership: in any future fight to preserve the values and morality of the military from Ben-Gvir’s demands for ever more violence and provocation, you’re on your own.”

As supremacism becomes more clearly at issue, opportunities arise for Palestinians who advocate for a state having equality under law.