Itamar Ben-Gvir, the head of the Kahanist, fascist Otzmat Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party in Israel, is set to make an official visit to the United States following the Passover holiday. This marks his first formal diplomatic trip abroad since becoming one of the most notorious faces of Israel’s far-right political establishment.
Ben-Gvir, who briefly resigned his ministerial post in protest of a short-lived ceasefire in Gaza, happily resumed his role the moment the genocidal campaign resumed. His protest was not motivated by a desire for peace, but rather a complaint that there wasn’t enough war.
As Netanyahu’s Minister of National Security, Ben-Gvir oversees both the police and prison systems, positions he has used to systematically deepen the brutality of Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime. Under his leadership, Israeli policing in the majority Arab cities has been slashed, effectively creating a power vacuum filled by criminal gangs. This policy has not only allowed organized crime to flourish but has actively endangered the lives of Palestinian citizens of Israel, whose pleas for safety have gone ignored.
Inside Israeli prisons, the situation is even more grim. Palestinian detainees, many of whom are held without charge or trial, have been subjected to ever-worsening conditions under Ben-Gvir’s directives. Reports of overcrowding, denial of medical care, and both physical and psychological abuse have skyrocketed. Ben-Gvir has openly celebrated these policies, portraying them as a show of strength in his war against the Palestinian people.
Once considered too extreme even for many of Israel’s more hawkish defenders, Ben-Gvir’s trip to the United States marks a significant change. Just a few years ago, associations with Kahanism—an ideology founded by Meir Kahane that explicitly advocates for the ethnic cleansing of Arabs—were politically taboo. Even the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobby so fiercely pro-Israel that it routinely defends war crimes, once kept its distance from Ben-Gvir and his party.
The Biden administration, for all its continued military and diplomatic support for Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, attempted to draw a line when it came to Ben-Gvir. During Biden’s presidency, U.S. officials were prohibited from meeting with the minister. Sanctions were reportedly on the table. Public statements emphasized that the United States would not engage with openly racist or extremist figures in the Israeli government, even as the administration continued to supply weapons used in the bombardment of Gaza.
That already weak line of resistance has now completely vanished with the Trump administration’s return to power. Far from avoiding Ben-Gvir, key Trump officials are preparing to welcome him as a respected ally. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is expected to meet with Ben-Gvir during his visit to Washington. Plans are also in place for him to meet with Otzmat Yehudit supporters in New York and Miami.
Ben-Gvir’s visit is not just symbolic. It is a signal that the Trump administration is ready to embrace, and even legitimize, the most extreme elements of Israeli politics. While much of the international community continues to shun him, Trump officials are eager to welcome him. This trip represents a dangerous escalation in the normalization of fascism.
Trump has used the façade of the need to protect American Jews from antisemitism as an excuse to persecute and disappear critics of Israel and Zionism, despite the fact that many of Israel’s loudest critics are American Jews in organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now. These policies align nicely with Ben-Gvir, who uses his state power to silence critics as well.
The convergence of Trumpism and Kahanism is no accident. It is the meeting of two of the most dangerous political movements in the world today. Both use police power to enforce their right-wing political agendas, fueled by messianic religious fanaticism. This visit is more than a diplomatic gesture; it is a chilling affirmation that scapegoating, claims of racial supremacy, and state violence are not just tolerated, but celebrated by those in power both in Tel-Aviv and in Washington, D.C.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, this article reflects the views of its author.
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