Far-Right Ben-Gvir to Be Israel’s National Security Minister

Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar ben Gvir (L) and Ofir Sofer ( R) during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, 15 November 2022. (Reuters)
Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar ben Gvir (L) and Ofir Sofer ( R) during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, 15 November 2022. (Reuters)
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Far-Right Ben-Gvir to Be Israel’s National Security Minister

Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar ben Gvir (L) and Ofir Sofer ( R) during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, 15 November 2022. (Reuters)
Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar ben Gvir (L) and Ofir Sofer ( R) during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, 15 November 2022. (Reuters)

Extremist politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has a long record of anti-Arab rhetoric and stunts, will become Israel's next minister of national security, according to the first of what are expected to be several coalition deals struck by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. 

Likud announced the agreement with Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party on Friday. 

Negotiations with three other potential far-right and ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are ongoing. If successful, Netanyahu would return to the prime minister's office and preside over the most right-wing and religious government in Israel's history. 

The awarding of the sensitive role to Ben-Gvir raises concerns of a further escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Ben-Gvir and his allies hope to grant immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot at Palestinians, deport rival lawmakers and impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of attacks on Jews. 

Ben-Gvir is the disciple of a racist rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was banned from Parliament and whose Kach party was branded a terrorist group by the United States before he was assassinated in New York in 1990. 

Ahead of Israel's Nov. 1 election, Ben-Gvir grabbed headlines for his anti-Palestinian speeches and stunts, including brandishing a pistol and encouraging police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood. 

Before becoming a lawyer and entering politics, he was convicted of offenses that include inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization. 

In his new role, he would be in charge of the police, among other things, enabling him to implement some of the hard-line policies against the Palestinians he has advocated for years. 

As part of the coalition deal, the current Ministry of Internal Security would be renamed Ministry of National Security and would be given expanded powers, Likud said Friday. 

As head of the ministry, Ben-Gvir would oversee the police and the paramilitary border police who operate alongside Israeli soldiers in Palestinian population centers. 

Likud lawmaker Yariv Levin praised the agreement, which was signed Thursday, as “the first agreement on the way to establishing a stable right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu." 

Ben-Gvir first entered parliament in 2021, after his Jewish Power party merged with the Religious Zionism party. Ben-Gvir's closest political ally, Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, is conducting separate negotiations with Likud, which emerged as the largest party in the elections. 

Netanyahu has balked at some of the demands, such as Smotrich seeking the defense ministry. Talks currently focus on the terms under which Smotrich would become finance minister. 



China Holds ‘Shooting’ Drills off Taiwan’s Coast, Vows ‘Reunification’ Push 

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
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China Holds ‘Shooting’ Drills off Taiwan’s Coast, Vows ‘Reunification’ Push 

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)
A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to land at an Air Force base in Hsinchu on December 10, 2024. (AFP)

China's military held "shooting training" on Wednesday off Taiwan's southwest coast in a move Taipei described as provocative and dangerous, while a senior Chinese leader vowed unswerving efforts to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of Chinese military activities, including several rounds of full-scale war games during the past three years.

Shortly before 9 a.m. (0100GMT), Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement, it had detected 32 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness drill" with Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait area.

"During this period it even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles (74 km) off the coast ... without prior warning, claiming that it would carry out 'shooting training'," the ministry added.

Taiwan's major southwestern population centers of Kaohsiung and Pingtung are both home to important naval and air bases. Kaohsiung is also home to Taiwan's largest port, a busy hub for global shipping.

The exercises endanger the safety of international flights and shipping and are a "blatant provocation" to regional peace and stability, the ministry said, adding that it had dispatched its own forces to keep watch.

There was no immediate confirmation from China that it was carrying out new drills around Taiwan and its defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's other recent military activity in the region, such as that off Australia's coast, are "proof that China is the only, and the greatest, threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific," Taiwan's ministry said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule, and has denounced both President Lai Ching-te, who took office last year, as a "separatist", and the United States for its support for Taiwan.

Earlier on Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency said the ruling Communist Party's fourth ranked leader, Wang Huning, had called this week for greater effort in the cause of Chinese "reunification".

China must "firmly grasp the right to dominate and take the initiative in cross-strait relations, and unswervingly push forward the cause of reunification of the motherland", it quoted Wang as telling an annual meeting on work related to Taiwan.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

SEVERED UNDERSEA CABLES

Taiwan and China have traded barbs also traded barbs this week over the severing of an undersea communications cable off the island's southwest coast.

Taiwan on Tuesday detained a Chinese-linked cargo ship, flagged in Togo, suspected of involvement, though China's government said Taiwan was "manipulating" possible Chinese involvement, saying the island was casting aspersions before the facts were clear.

Before being detained by Taiwan's coast guard, the Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58 was already on a monitoring list of 52 China-linked vessels that Taiwan security agencies suspect pose a threat to cables because of their past activities near Taiwan, two Taiwan officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.

This is the fifth case of sea cable malfunctions this year for Taiwan. It reported three such cases in 2024 and 2023.

Taiwan has pointed to similarities between what it has experienced and damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.