[Salon] Ben-Gvir and Israel’s danse macabre - ArabDigest.org Guest Post

Ben-Gvir and Israel’s danse macabre Summary: as tit for tat retaliations multiply, fears are growing that either by error or miscalculation the Middle East is on the brink of a new and disastrous war; meanwhile Itamar Ben-Gvir has been granted significant new powers that could lead to the full-scale conflict he seeks to provoke. As the fallout continues from the assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Tehran much of the commentariat is weighing up whether his killing will be the trigger for an all-out war in the Middle East. The Israelis thus far, and as per usual when they carry out attacks inside Iran, are declining to take credit for his murder. They were, however, quick to claim the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander just a few hours before Haniyeh’s death. Fuad Shukr’s death was the result of an air strike in Beirut with the IDF claiming that he was “Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's right-hand man and wartime operations adviser.” In addition to Shukr, two others including a woman were killed and another 74 wounded in what the Israeli military described as a “targeted assassination operation.” The IDF has not commented on the deaths of Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Refee killed in an air strike when their car was bombed on Wednesday as they reported from the Shati Refugee camp in Gaza. That brings to four the number of Al Jazeera reporters killed thus far by the Israelis who have also killed multiple family members of the journalists. At least 111 journalists have died since the beginning of the war. Israel claims that it does not target journalists. However the president of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) told Al Jazeera that it has clear evidence of the targeted killing of at least three journalists since the start of the war and is investigating 10 more cases. Shireen Abu Akleh the renowned Palestinian-American journalist was shot and killed by an IDF sniper in 2022. The IDF immediately attempted to blame Palestinian gunmen for her killing and when that claim fell apart grudgingly admitted months later to the shooting saying “there is a high possibility Ms Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire.” No action was taken against the sniper. Independent analysis has established hers too was a targeted murder. The Israelis in declaring the killing of Shukr have said it was in retaliation for the killing of 12 Druze children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah had said it was not responsible for the attack and claimed it was an errant Israeli anti-rocket interceptor that caused the deaths. Away from the intense speculation about whether the region was poised to be plunged into full fledged war the Jerusalem attorney Daniel Seidemann posted a lengthy thread on X that, thus far, has attracted little attention in media circles. In a provocative move, on July 18 Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir entered Al-Aqsa Mosque and called for the continuation of increased military pressure against Hamas The 30 July thread is worth quoting in full as it relates to increased powers granted the National Security Minister and right wing extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir Yesterday, I posted a long thread on the dangerous situation created by giving Ben Gvir authority over house demolitions. That’s what I do. I flag things & when warranted, caution about the potential outbreak of violence. This situation needs to be flagged and monitored. This sounds mundane, but it's anything but. In essence, this gives Ben Gvir authority over home demolitions, including but not only in East Jerusalem. It grants Ben Gvir powers to decide how many and what gets demolished. And draconian authority that suspends basic rights. The Gov't resolution could only take effect with approval by the Knesset. A special session of the Knesset was scheduled four days later, to allow approval. I sent out urgent warnings to friends in positions of authority, who could possibly do something. I dubbed this DefCon 2. Large scale demolitions (are) more incendiary, and risk convulsive violence in Jerusalem secondly to an incident at Al Aqsa. I'm not an alarmist, but I sounded the alarm. It got attention, but it wasn't easy. On Shabbat, I got a phone call from a diplomat asking why this made a difference. Why isn't this a non-event? It was clear that some powerful shill for Netanyahu was trying to deny the danger, not knowing Jerusalem, not knowing the facts and not knowing the law. So I found myself on Shabbat quoting verbatim, the numerous relevant Sections of the Planning and Construction Law 1965. Somehow, it worked. The Knesset vote was removed from the agenda w/o fanfare. I don't know how, and I don't know by whom and I never will. That's fine. So it's a feel-good story, no? No. Late last Wednesday night (24 July), in the last votes before the lengthy recess, the law giving authorities to Ben Gvir to demolish homes in East Jerusalem was passed by the Knesset. This could not have happened without Netanyahu's knowledge and consent. He knows how dangerous this is, but for his political survival there is little he will not do. This could not have happened without Netanyahu giving the middle finger to Israel's closest allies. So today, Jerusalem is a much more dangerous place than it was a week ago. I feel compelled to conclude with a word to our "friends" in Congress. This was happening literally at the time when you were applauding Netanyahu. Itamar Ben-Gvir is committed to the destruction of the Palestine people in Gaza, in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Towards that end and with a violent messianic fervour he believes that drawing Iran and the US into a war will make his brutal dream into reality. However Ben-Gvir well knows that both Iran and the Israeli security and military elite, as well as Hezbollah, will go to great lengths to avoid a full scale war and have already repeatedly done so in their carefully calibrated tit for tat strikes. But further attacks in East Jerusalem may provoke the sort of Palestinian uprising that Ben-Gvir thinks will pull America and Iran into the vortex of war. And that is why the Seidemann thread is so important. Members can leave comments about this newsletter on the Arab Digest website