With a quick wit and cheerful demeanor, Ben-Gvir also became a popular fixture in the media, paving his way to enter politics. He was first elected to parliament in 2021.
Ben-Gvir has called for deporting his political opponents.
In an episode in 2022, he brandished a pistol and encouraged police to open fire on Palestinian protesters in an occupied Jerusalem neighborhood.
In his Cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversaw the country’s police force. He used his influence to encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the genocide in Gaza and recently boasted that he had blocked past efforts to reach a ceasefire.
As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a harsh line against anti-government protesters.
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Controversial minister
Ben-Gvir, who lives in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank, secured his Cabinet post after 2022 elections that put Netanyahu and his extremist partners, including Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party, into power.
“Over the last year I’ve been on a mission to save Israel,” Ben-Gvir told reporters before that election. “Millions of citizens are waiting for a real right-wing government. The time has come to give them one.”
Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to illegal Jewish settlers, backing Netanyahu’s contentious attempt to overhaul the country’s legal system and frequently lashing out at US leaders for perceived slights against Israel.
He oversees the nation’s infamous police force, prison service and border police units that operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
During the genocide in Gaza, Ben-Gvir repeatedly advocated against the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, even as experts warned of brewing famine.
In July 2025, he was one of two Israeli ministers sanctioned by Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway for “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Netherlands has banned Ben-Gvir from entering the country.
He recently celebrated in Israel’s parliament after the body approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a bill he spearheaded.
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Resignation and return to Netanyahu’s cabinet
Ben-Gvir temporarily resigned from Netanyahu’s Cabinet last year to express his disapproval of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal.
That ceasefire ran from January 19 to March 1.
Ben-Gvir’s resignation did not stop the ceasefire, but it did weaken Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Ben-Gvir rejoined the Cabinet when Israel ended the ceasefire and returned to genocide in Gaza in March 2025. He remained in Netanyahu’s Cabinet through the current Gaza ceasefire.
