Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit to JNS: Israel needs a strong right-wing bloc

Ben-Gvir
Otzma Yehudit party chairman and Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a supporters’ conference ahead of the upcoming general elections in Netanya, Sept. 1, 2026. Credit: Erik Marmor/Flash90.
Erik Marmor/Flash90

The Knesset needs a strong right-wing bloc to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu true to his principles, the Otzma Yehudit party campaign told JNS on Monday, a day before the election.

“That’s how we get the Bibi we want,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party said, referring to the incumbent premier.

The campaign stressed the need for a Netanyahu “backed by partners who hold him to his principles, not one boxed into a weak unity government.”

Such governments “water down every commitment, deliver nothing on security, and fall apart within months,” the campaign warned.

The party said it is drawing voters who “don’t feel they have a home anymore,” including disappointed Likud and Shas voters, haredim, Russian-speaking Israelis and “Anglos,” that is native English speakers.

“Voting in a Jewish democracy is something our grandparents could only dream of,” the campaign said. It called on every citizen to vote on Tuesday “with positivity and conviction.”

Amelie Botbol is a diplomatic correspondent for JNS. Originally from Casablanca, Morocco, she made aliyah in 2014. Her reporting focuses on major international developments and the Israeli political arena, including weekly coverage from the Knesset. She also produced one of the world’s most extensive bodies of reporting on Israel’s hostage crisis following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks.
Activists tell JNS dislike of Trump’s policies, frustration with Netanyahu will overcome any qualms party’s voters have about some of the Democratic nominees.
“Safeguarding Israeli democracy is our mission. We will carry it out without bias and without compromise,” the commissioner stated.
“We may do another little Operation Epic Fury, or they’ll agree” to a deal, U.S. President Donald Trump tells an audience in Florida.
Counterterrorism raids launched in over 400 locations throughout Judea and Samaria.