JTA: Ben-Gvir says he met with 4 members of Congress, rebuffed protesters at US Capitol

On the last day of his first visit to the United States while in office, Itamar Ben-Gvir made it to the halls of Congress.

The far-right Israeli national security minister announced that he met with four Republican members of Congress on Monday, capping a weeklong trip that otherwise largely stuck to right-wing Jewish groups and communities, and included multiple cancelations amid backlash.

The Capitol Hill meetings were notable because, several years ago, Ben-Gvir was considered too extreme to even partner with other right-wing politicians in Israel. Now he is a linchpin to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. In November, nearly 90 Democratic Congress members unsuccessfully urged then-President Joe Biden to bar Ben-Gvir from entering the United States.

Ben-Gvir didn’t meet with any Democrats. More significantly, he also did not meet with any officials from the Trump administration, even though one of the goals of his trip was to push President Donald Trump’s stated vision for Gaza — including depopulating the enclave of Palestinians.

Ben-Gvir’s office distributed pictures of him with these members of the House of Representatives:

• Jim Jordan of Ohio, who as chair of the House Judiciary Committee is a leading Trump ally;
• Claudia Tenney of New York, who helms the new “Friends of Judea and Samaria Caucus.” The caucus is named for the term used by the Israeli government to describe the West Bank, and — like Ben-Gvir — supports perpetual Israeli control of that territory;
• Mike Lawler of New York, who represents a district with a large Jewish population and, as chair of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, advises the State Department on issues related to Israel; and
• Brian Mast of Florida, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is the only member of Congress to have volunteered with the Israeli army. (Ben-Gvir was turned away for his compulsory army service because of his extremist ties.)

Mast’s committee posted on social media that the two had discussed “America’s shared national security interests with Israel.” According to Ben-Gvir’s office, he spoke with Jordan and Tenney about “the Trump Plan for Gaza, the implementation of the death penalty in Israel for terrorists who have murdered citizens, and freedom of worship on the Temple Mount,” Judaism’s holiest site.

Ben-Gvir, an advocate for Jewish resettlement of Gaza, is one of the most vociferous advocates for Trump’s depopulation plan. He is likewise an outspoken advocate for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, which is also a Muslim holy site. Regulations at the site, a flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, heavily restrict Jewish prayer, a situation Ben-Gvir has endeavored to change.

Ben-Gvir’s office also boasted that he had clashed with protesters in the halls of Congress. Both Code Pink and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, posted videos showing their activists calling Ben-Gvir a war criminal and shouting “Free Palestine.” At one point, a protester tells him that he killed their family in Gaza. The videos show Ben-Gvir facing the protesters and shouting at them while security personnel kept them apart.

“He completely lost it,” Code Pink tweeted, adding, “His violent, irritable reaction to peaceful protest shows exactly the kind of brutality he unleashes on Palestinians every day.”

Ben-Gvir’s office had a different take on the confrontation, issuing a description of the incident and Ben-Gvir’s response: “Despite the commotion, the Minister did not flinch and responded with characteristic strength: Terrorists, 9/11 supporters, Israel haters, saboteurs, baby killers. Israel will remain ours!”