Itamar Ben Gvir

In the article “With Netanyahu’s help, far-right party member could become MK” by AFP and Toi Staff, discuss Itamar Ben Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit party. Ben Gvir has been shown support by many and can result in him becoming a member of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. In the establishment of the membership of Ben Gvir, was helped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ben Gvir, claims that the Otzma Yehudit party will make it into parliament. More so, the leaders of the Otzma Yehudit party are followers of an assassinated far-right rabbi, whose group was labeled as a terrorist organization. Prime Minister Netanyahu made a deal to have the Otzma Yehudit join two other far-right parties. The agreement made by the Prime Minister gave the Otzma Yehudit party a boost to pass the electoral. Ben Gvir becomes the only member of the Otzma Yehudit party with the chance to make it to Israel’s parliament. To a rights group for Arab Israelis, Adalah, Ben Gvir belongs to a movement that is recognized as a terrorist group. However, the Otzma party strongly dispute this claim by stating that it is against the enemies of Israel and not to the Arab population. Thus, the Otzma party advocates in the removal of “Israel's enemies” which is in reference to Palestinians and Arab Israelis who carry out attacks and are against a Jewish state.

The authors AFP and Toi Staff have both written other articles in the past about political matters on their own as well as together. It shows that both authors must have expertise in writing articles about political issues. The material includes public opinion; it gives quotes from the public that agree with Otzma Yehudit party’s political platform and quotes from a resident that disagree with the party being seen as racist. The article does provide relevant authorities such as Ben Gvir and Prime Minister Netanyahu, but their statements are paraphrased. The voices that are included in the article are both supportive and critical to the data presented. The article provides tension as there only being two sides of the story. In a more recent article, it mentions that Prime Minister Netanyahu would not appoint Itamar Ben Gvir to the Knesset panel. In which, Ben Gvir remarks how quick Prime Minister Netanyahu is so ready to jump to the left. This article is not reliable; it does not provide enough information to the reader on who Itamar Ben Gvir is and background on Otzma Yehudit party’s platform. Also, more recent articles mention that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not as supportive as this article makes it seem.

As mentioned above, the article does present data that is both supportive and critical to the Otzma Yehudit party. When the article presents critical data, it indicates how the party is associated as being part of a terrorist organization. It is mentioned how the party Otzma Yehudit are followers of a late racist rabbi, whose Kach movement wanted to chase Arabs from Israel. The theology of Kahane inspired Baruch Goldstein, who carried a massacre of 29 Palestinian worshippers in 1994. In which, Ben Gvir, has a picture of Baruch Goldstein in his living. More so, it includes how Ben Gvir advocates for removing Israel's enemies for their land. The enemies of Israel are about Palestinians and Arab Israelis who carry out attacks and do not accept the Jewish state they envision. The article mentions that Ben Gvir defends settlers accused of violence, including individuals who were responsible for an arson attack that killed families. Therefore, it seems that the authors are not in favor of Ben Gvir and his party Otzma Yehudit to be part of parliament.