Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir Faces U.S. Protests \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s U.S. visit was met with widespread protests, resignations, and accusations of extremism. His appearances in New York and near Yale University ignited fierce backlash from Jewish groups and Palestinian advocates. Protests highlighted growing divides within American Judaism over Israeli policies.
Quick Looks
- Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir protested during U.S. appearances
- Protester storms private Manhattan event shouting anti-extremist slogans
- Hundreds demonstrated at Yale; Jewish group members resigned
- Chabad headquarters visit leads to clashes, arrests in Brooklyn
- U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler condemns Ben-Gvir as “racist, terrorist”
- Planned events in Brooklyn and Long Island canceled
- Visit exposes fractures within American Jewish communities
- Ben-Gvir previously convicted of racist incitement in Israel
- Began trip with meetings at Mar-a-Lago and Miami Police
- Activists say Ben-Gvir’s ideology is normalizing extremism
Deep Look
When Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, embarked on his first official U.S. visit, few could have predicted just how volatile and revealing the trip would become. Across multiple American cities, protests erupted, Jewish community groups fractured, and broader questions emerged about the nature of political extremism, the state of American-Israeli relations, and the shifting identity of global Jewish communities.
Ben-Gvir’s appearance was more than a political tour. It became a powerful lens into how polarization, nationalism, and memory collide in a fraught 21st-century context.
Steakhouse Showdown: The Protest Heard Across New York
The chaos reached a boiling point Thursday afternoon at a private Manhattan steakhouse, where a protester named Gabriel DeFazio burst into a closed event after hiding for two hours in the restroom.
“Get the (expletive) out of New York!” DeFazio yelled, accusing Ben-Gvir of embodying the spirit of Nazism and vowing that “Palestine will be free.”
Security quickly removed DeFazio, but his defiant outburst echoed sentiments felt by many watching Ben-Gvir’s U.S. appearances: outrage that a man once convicted of racist incitement and celebrated by extremist elements in Israel could now walk the halls of American political and religious institutions.
For DeFazio, the confrontation was about more than Ben-Gvir himself.
“It’s about normalizing extremism,” he said. “When fascist figures are treated as legitimate leaders, it corrodes democracy everywhere — not just in Israel.”
At Yale and Beyond: Protest, Resignations, and Reputational Risk
Ben-Gvir’s appearance at Yale University earlier in the week triggered a wave of student-led demonstrations and high-profile resignations within Shabtai, the Jewish leadership society that hosted him.
David Vincent Kimel, a former Shabtai member and Israeli native, resigned publicly, comparing Ben-Gvir’s invitation to hosting the Ku Klux Klan.
“He represents a grotesque extreme that was elevated by tragic political shifts,” Kimel said.
The incident at Yale highlights a deepening fissure within young American Jewish communities, particularly as questions about Israel’s direction under far-right leadership grow more urgent.
For many progressive and moderate American Jews, support for Israel no longer means unconditional alignment with its current policies. The occupation of Palestinian territories, the expansion of settlements, and the normalization of ultranationalist ideologies are sparking a new era of critical engagement — and sometimes, outright repudiation.
The Controversial Rise of Itamar Ben-Gvir
Ben-Gvir, a former disciple of the banned extremist movement Kach, built his career on provocative calls for Arab expulsions and settler expansion. He famously kept a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, the perpetrator of the 1994 Hebron massacre, hanging in his home for years — a symbol of his early ideological roots.
Though marginalized in Israeli politics for decades, Ben-Gvir’s rise mirrors Israel’s rightward shift under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who assembled a governing coalition with ultranationalist and religious parties after the 2022 elections.
Ben-Gvir now holds immense sway as Minister of National Security, overseeing Israeli police and shaping public policy on the occupied West Bank — leading many to accuse him of openly promoting ethnic discrimination.
In 2023, his comments that his right to travel freely in the West Bank was “more important” than the rights of Palestinians crystallized international condemnation. The Biden administration accused him of “sowing chaos”, while human rights groups called him a threat to democratic norms.
Meetings, Cancellations, and Deepening Divides
Ben-Gvir’s itinerary included visits to Mar-a-Lago, where he met with Republican Party officials (though not President Trump personally), as well as stops at the Miami Police Department, a Jewish day school, and a Jewish-owned gun store.
However, several planned events, including a visit to a Hasidic synagogue in Brooklyn and a Modern Orthodox congregation on Long Island, were canceled amid public pressure.
In New York, his visit prompted a coalition of Jewish leaders — including Rep. Jerry Nadler — to publicly denounce him. Nadler, speaking at a rally, called Ben-Gvir a “racist, terrorist, and Jewish supremacist,” announcing plans to introduce legislation addressing West Bank settler violence.
The divisions are not just political. They are generational, ideological, and deeply personal, tearing at the fabric of what it means to be part of a global Jewish community in 2025.
A Broader Reckoning: What Ben-Gvir’s Visit Reveals
Ben-Gvir’s presence on American soil forces several uncomfortable conversations into the spotlight:
- The Redefinition of Jewish Solidarity: Can Jewish unity exist when fundamental values — about democracy, human rights, and coexistence — diverge so sharply?
- The Risk of Normalizing Extremism: How does granting platforms to figures like Ben-Gvir affect political discourse in democracies already battling polarization and authoritarianism?
- The Future of U.S.-Israel Relations: Will bipartisan American support for Israel survive if the face of Israeli leadership increasingly aligns with the global far-right?
For many, Ben-Gvir’s tour was a stark reminder that the battle over Israel’s soul is no longer confined to Jerusalem or the West Bank — it is now unfolding across the campuses, synagogues, and city streets of America itself.
As Ben-Gvir returns to Israel, the aftershocks of his U.S. visit will linger — in the new coalitions formed, the alliances tested, and the identities reexamined across Jewish communities and beyond.
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