The fascists in Netanyahu's government will seek to build on the existing inciteful discourse against Palestinian citizens living inside Israel to characterise the minority as a fifth column, and to publicly justify its expulsion. And this is not unprecedented: Previous leaders and ministers have suggested that Palestinians are inherently treasonous, comparing Palestinian citizens to "cancer", or "cockroaches", and calling for their expulsion.
Meanwhile, Avigdor Lieberman, a minister in several governments, long ago set out a plan for redrawing Israel's borders to deny parts of the Palestinian minority citizenship.
In the summer, Ben-Gvir touted an opinion poll showing that nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews favoured legislation he proposed to expel "disloyal" Palestinian citizens from the state and strip them of citizenship. Other Jewish parties, subscribing to their own versions of ethnic supremacism, will struggle to find a way to credibly counter Ben-Gvir's fascist rhetoric.
Difficult TestAll of this will prove a difficult test for Israel's supporters in Europe and the US. Most identify as liberal Zionists, even though their wing of Zionism was eradicated inside Israel some time ago.
Jewish liberal Zionists invariably argue that Israel is central to their identity. They have even insisted on redefining anything but the most bloodless criticism of Israel as antisemitism. An attack on Israel is an attack on Jewish identity, they argue, and therefore constitutes antisemitism.
It was precisely that twisted logic that was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) when it drafted a new definition of antisemitism - one that has been widely adopted by western political parties, local authorities and universities.
The IHRA's examples of antisemitism include labelling Israel a "racist endeavour", comparing its actions to those of the Nazis - presumably even if real-life fascists are dictating Israeli policies - or requiring of Israel "behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation" - begging the question: What more does Israel have to do to stop qualifying as "any other democratic nation"?
Those demurring, such as Britain's former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, have felt the full force of liberal Zionist wrath - as have those campaigning for boycotts of Israel to curb its excesses. It was liberal Zionists who shut down boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) activism, and the resulting sense of impunity surely contributed to unleashing Israel's fascist leviathan.
Will Israel's supporters repudiate the IHRA definition of Israel, when Ben-Gvir is sitting in government, representing a large chunk of the Israeli population? You can bet they won't.
If Ben-Gvir forces Israel's cheerleaders to choose between the Jewish supremacism of their Zionism and their liberalism, most will stick with the former. What will happen, as has happened so many times before, is that Israel's shift further rightwards will quickly be normalised. Having open fascists inside government will soon become unremarkable.
Worse, Ben-Gvir will serve as an alibi for the other far-right politicians alongside him, allowing the US and Europe to present them as moderates - men and women of peace, the adults in the room.
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