Israeli minister calls for Palestinian officials to be killed

Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for Palestinian Authority officials to be killed, and for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be arrested should the UN recognise Palestine as a state, according to the Middle East Eye and agencies on November 17th.

These comments were made ahead of a UN Security Council vote on November 17th, which would potentially allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Western nations, including the UK, Canada, and Australia, have formally recognised a Palestinian state.

At a cabinet meeting prior to the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his country’s opposition to a Palestinian state; Netanyahu had previously denounced the recognition as an “immense reward to terrorism.”

In a statement on X, Ben-Gvir said: “Orders must be given for targeted killings of senior Palestinian Authority officials – who are terrorists in every respect – as well as an order for the arrest of [Mahmoud Abbas].”

He also said that a solitary confinement cell at Ketziot Prison was being prepared for Abbas; Ketziot Prison has been described by Israeli human rights monitor B’Tselem as being part of a “network of torture camps.”

The leader of the Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”) party, Ben-Gvir, is a key advocate of a bill that would impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on “nationalistic grounds”, although Israelis convicted of similar crimes appear to be exempt from the legislation.

Under the bill, Palestinians convicted of “terrorism” would be eligible for execution; the Knesset’s National Security Committee approved the bill by a vote of 39 to 16 on November 10th, although two subsequent readings still need to take place.

It is unclear if Ben-Gvir’s designation of Palestinian officials as “terrorists” would make them eligible for the death penalty under the proposed legislation, although Ben-Gvir has previously said that Palestinian detainees “deserve a death penalty law.”

Along with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Ben-Gvir was sanctioned by several nations over his open disregard for Palestinian life. Both ministers were signatories of a letter that urged President Isaac Herzog to pardon Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians, including one man who was involved in a 2015 firebombing that killed three members of a Palestinian family, including an 18-month-old baby.

Ben-Gvir has a history of endorsing anti-Palestinian views having been involved in the since-banned Kach movement, during his adolescence.  The movement was founded by Meir Kahane who is a Zionist extremist. It is believed that Ben-Gvir once kept a portrait of the terrorist Baruch Goldstein in his living room.

The Palestinian Authority, which is seen by some as a viable alternative to Hamas for Gaza’s government, has previously accused Israel of ethnically cleansing Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. However, the group has also come under pressure for alleged corruption and nepotism, and has been urged to reform.

Middle East Eye and agencies, B’Tselem, Maghrebi.org