Donate

EN
/

Join our email list

The Season of American Jewish Introspection

Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich predicted that ultranationalist Meir Kahane acolyte Itamar Ben Gvir was destined for the upper echelon of Israeli politics.
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Michael Koplow is a Senior Fellow of the Kogod Research Center at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and the Chief Policy Officer of the Israel Policy Forum. Before coming to Israel Policy Forum, he was the founding Program Director of the Israel Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, where he specialized in political development and ideology, and the politics of Middle Eastern states. He writes Israel Policy Forum’s weekly

Earlier this week, Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich—a man who only a few short years ago was seen as the radical fringe of Israeli politics but whose outrageous comments now seem both common and commonplace—predicted that his past and present political partner, ultranationalist Meir Kahane acolyte Itamar Ben Gvir, was destined for the upper echelon of Israeli politics. Ben Gvir, said Smotrich, will be a senior minister in the next Israeli government, since his own Religious Zionism party’s rocket-like trajectory in the polls is in large part attributable to Ben Gvir’s popularity and the electoral contributions of his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) faction.”

Read the full op-ed on Israel Policy Forum

You care about Israel, peoplehood, and vibrant, ethical Jewish communities. We do too.

Join our email list for more Hartman ideas

More on
Search
FOLLOW HARTMAN INSTITUTE
Join our email list

SEND BY EMAIL

The End of Policy Substance in Israel Politics