© Heidi Levine/Sipa Press
Check point soldier in West Bank
Check point soldier in West Bank
Enter Otzma Yehudit, or the Jewish Power party.
Otzma Yehudit is strongly influenced by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose virulently anti-Palestinian Kach party was barred from Israeli elections more than 30 years ago. Since being proscribed, Kach has been declared a terrorist organization in most western countries, including the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Most of the leadership of Jewish Power had previously been involved with Kach, including its current leader, Itamar Ben Gvir, who held a position in Kahane's movement in his student days. Jewish Power's former leader and current chair, Michael Ben Ari, has been banned from entering the US because of his links to Jewish terrorism.
Nonetheless, Netanyahu is widely reported to have offered sweeteners to get Jewish Power and two other extreme right parties to establish a new alliance called Religious Zionism.
Comment: It seems many countries are 'moving the bar' towards total domination under the auspices of a particular ideal, cause or agenda. Israel, consistent in nudging their mark, offers a case in point.