Third Blog Post

Last week on April 4th, The Times of Israel published an article titled "With Netanyahu's help, far-right party member could become MK" by anonymous authors labeled as AFP and the Times of Israel staff. This article summarizes the recent controversy in Israel where a man by the name of Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the controversial Otzma Yehudit party, may become a member of the Israeli Knesset. This party has been controversial for several reasons. As documented in their own words their party platform explains that they want to work to remove who they see as the enemies of Israel. However, this policy of theirs extends to Arab citizens of Israel who they wish to see permanently removed if they consider them as an "enemy". They also want to gain control over the Temple Mount which currently is held by the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to work toward a coalition of right wing groups to help his Likud party gain the most votes in the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. The followers of Oztma Yehudit follow a now assassinated rabbi and their group was declared a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, and even by the state of Israel. Netanyahu led a recent deal that merged Otzma Yehudit with two other far right parties. If left alone it was seen as unlikely that the party would reach the required 3.25 percent necessary to be represented in the Knesset in the first place. However, due to the new combination, it has become much more likely. The leader Michael Ben Ari was recently disqualified by the Israeli Supreme Court for several comments he made that were deemed as racist which led Ben Gvir as the only major party member who could join the Knesset.

The facts in this article seem to be reliable because they are backed up by several other sources. The Oztma Yehudit party goals are clearly listed in their own words on their political platform PDF. The Oztma Yehudit party also wants Israel to annex the West Bank, which would anger the Palestinians living in the region. The Jerusalem Post also reported on the party being racist as well as the Times of Israel, the New York Times, and Y-Net News. Thus, given the Supreme Court banning the group from the Knesset due to comments made to incite racist violence, it is very likely that people would view this group as racist. The US Department of State lists the group Yeshivat HaRaayon HaYehudi as a terrorist organization. This group recently merged with Oztma Yehudit.

The precise author of this piece is unknown as their name was not listed as the author and was likely a piece that was sold to the Times of Israel. However, it is known that the Times of Israel is a more right leaning paper. It is notable that the author used a quote from an Israeli citizen in the beginning of the article where they argue that Oztma Yehudit is not racist. This shows a potential bias that the author may agree with by choosing to include this quote. However, later in this article the author notes that Oztma Yehudit's leader was banned from the Knesset by the Israeli Supreme Court for racist statements which shows that they maybe believe that their statements were racist. The author did not say the statements were believed to be racist but rather plainly stated that the Court said they were racist which shows that the author might agree with the Court's decision. The article follows up with following the past history of Oztma Yehudit and how its supporters have incited violence. The author also mentions that the group is considered a terrorist group by others but they note that Arab human rights groups are the ones considering them as terrorists as opposed to other organizations who consider its former group as terrorists such as the United States and the European Union and Israel. I think this shows the author is more of a centrist who wants to show both right wing and left wing perspectives on Oztma Yehudit.