Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has claimed that senior Republican lawmakers in the United States support Israeli strikes on humanitarian aid facilities in Gaza, a deeply contentious assertion likely to strain transatlantic ties.
The minister, who has long championed hardline military policies, said the backing came during his recent visit to the United States, where he met unnamed Republican officials at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump himself was reportedly not present at the meeting, according to public schedules.
In a loosely translated post on X, Ben-Gvir stated: “They expressed support for my very clear position on how to act in Gaza and that the food and aid depots should be bombed to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home safely.”
While Ben-Gvir’s post did not name the American lawmakers in attendance, his office later informed Israeli media that Congressman Tom Emmer, the Republican Majority Whip and third in the party’s House leadership hierarchy, was present.
The minister’s incendiary remarks have provoked a storm of outrage both domestically and abroad. His visit was met with significant protests, particularly from liberal Jewish groups and pro-Palestinian activists in the United States. On Wednesday, around 300 demonstrators gathered outside Yale’s Shabtai house to voice their opposition.
“The impact of giving people like Ben-Gvir a platform is not helpful to building the kind of campus that we all want to see,” said Samuel Ostrove ’25, a Jewish Israeli citizen. “Shabtai is hosting someone who so strongly stands against shared understanding and building a shared future in a land where people legitimately live.”
In a separate statement posted to Instagram, student group Yalies4Palestine strongly condemned the visit, calling Ben-Gvir “a core architect of the genocide in Gaza.”
Ben-Gvir has repeatedly advocated extreme measures in Gaza. Before rejoining the Israeli government in March, he publicly called for Israel to halt the supply of electricity and water to Gaza and to target aid depots, a proposal he reiterated following the expiration of a six-week truce.
Meanwhile, France, Germany and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement on Wednesday criticising Israel’s continued blockade on humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. The three nations called the restrictions “intolerable” and demanded unfettered access for food, water and medical supplies.
The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported that at least 51,300 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s military campaign began in the wake of the Hamas-led attack on 7 October, which claimed the lives of at least 1,139 people in southern Israel.
Ben-Gvir’s remarks, his political legitimacy among hardliners, and his international outreach efforts are expected to further polarise discourse around the Gaza conflict and Israel’s increasingly isolated stance on the global stage.
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