Days before the election, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave his first interview to foreign media since entering office four years ago. Speaking to TIME magazine, he addressed the war in Gaza, his plans to encourage voluntary emigration from the Strip, and the October 7 failures, acknowledging that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not blameless, but insisting he is far from the only one responsible.
First foreign interview
Ben-Gvir: Others more guilty than Bibi
In his first interview with foreign media since taking office, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tells TIME that while the prime minister made mistakes, intelligence and military failures bear greater responsibility for the October 7 massacre
The lengthy interview appeared in the American magazine TIME under the headline "Ben-Gvir's Plan to Push Netanyahu Further Right," with Ben-Gvir pictured in a stark black-and-white photograph. Interviewer Eric Cortellessa described Ben-Gvir at the article's opening as "a combative far-right figure once deemed too extreme to serve in the IDF," who now seeks "to make Netanyahu even more dependent on the extremist parties pushing for Palestinians to leave Gaza and the West Bank, and for Israel to apply sovereignty over the territories."
"If Israel wants to continue living and not be destroyed, we must conquer all of Gaza. We must promote voluntary emigration," Ben-Gvir argued. "Gaza could be a Riviera. It's a beautiful place. But there cannot be even one Hamas member there."
The interview also noted that Ben-Gvir "has become one of the most prominent voices on the Israeli right seeking to shift responsibility for the October 7 failures away from Netanyahu and toward Israel's security and intelligence establishment." "Even if Netanyahu is not perfect, and even if he made mistakes, and he did make mistakes, what brought him down on October 7 was our intelligence. The army, the intelligence officer, the Shin Bet. All are guilty," the minister said. "Netanyahu is not blameless, but there are many other people who are more guilty than him."
Still, Ben-Gvir noted that "I want Netanyahu as prime minister. He is a leader. I don't support him blindly, and I'm not his courtier. But I prefer him a million times over Eisenkot. What will really help Netanyahu be right-wing is if I, Ben-Gvir, am a senior minister and this is a full right-wing government."
