Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said this week that top Republican leaders endorsed his position that Israel should bomb humanitarian aid depots in Gaza, a declaration that has drawn international condemnation and intensified scrutiny of U.S. alignment with Israel’s far-right leadership.
Ben-Gvir, who is visiting the United States for the first time as minister, attended a dinner at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday. Among those present were senior members of the Republican Party, including GOP House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and several prominent businessmen from Miami.
“I had the honor and privilege of meeting with senior members of the Republican Party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate,” Ben-Gvir posted on social media early Wednesday morning. “They expressed support for my clear stance on how action should be taken in Gaza—that food and aid depots should be bombed to create military and political pressure to bring our hostages home.”
The claim that American political leaders are backing attacks on humanitarian aid efforts comes as Gaza faces what the United Nations has called an “unprecedented” humanitarian catastrophe. Aid agencies report that the enclave’s entire population—more than 2 million people, the majority of them women and children—is facing starvation after over 50 days of blocked aid.
“Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade. Gaza has become a land of desperation. Two million people—a majority of women and children—are undergoing collective punishment,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in a statement issued this week. “Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war.”
The Geneva Conventions prohibit attacks on humanitarian aid and relief workers unless there is a legitimate military target. Legal scholars and international law experts have increasingly described Israel’s blockade and bombardment of aid efforts as war crimes and, in some cases, acts of genocide.
Ben-Gvir’s remarks come amid growing international alarm over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. In March, autopsies revealed that Israeli forces executed paramedics in Khan Yunis with gunshots to the head, using bullets that explode on impact. The targeted medics were members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services.
While in the United States, Ben-Gvir also visited a Florida police station, a prison, and a Jewish-owned gun store. His U.S. tour has been met with protests and condemnation, particularly over his planned speech at Yale University on Wednesday. Last week, Yale students erected a Gaza solidarity encampment to oppose his visit. The encampment was disbanded after university administrators reportedly threatened “retribution.” More than 200 people gathered in protest.
Ben-Gvir’s presence in the United States has raised concern among scholars and human rights observers. “The fact that someone like Ben-Gvir … is even being hosted by US institutions is in and of itself deeply disturbing,” said Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. “That the GOP is aligned with the most fanatical elements in Israeli politics, while perhaps not surprising, is extremely alarming and does not bode well for the stability of the region.”
Ben-Gvir, a far-right settler from the occupied West Bank, has a history of extremist positions and criminal convictions. In 2007, he was convicted of racist incitement and support for terrorist groups. For years, he displayed a photo of Baruch Goldstein—the settler who massacred 29 Muslim worshippers in Hebron in 1994—in his living room. In 2022, the Biden administration condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit to the memorial of Meir Kahane, the founder of a violently anti-Arab movement.
“Celebrating the legacy of a terrorist organization is abhorrent. There is no other word for it,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price at the time. “We urge all parties to maintain calm, exercise restraint, and to refrain from actions that only serve to exacerbate tensions and that includes in Jerusalem.”
Ben-Gvir’s current position within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has been pivotal in maintaining its stability. He has publicly threatened to leave the coalition if Israel ends its war in Gaza and has repeatedly called for the resettlement of Gaza, a plan that experts say constitutes a genocidal policy. This proposal has reportedly received support from former President Trump and members of his administration.
The alignment between Ben-Gvir and leading figures in the Republican Party is unfolding alongside broader efforts by Trump-aligned politicians to rollback U.S. human rights commitments. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has eliminated the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice, which previously worked to promote accountability for war crimes. Annual State Department reports under the Trump administration have also omitted condemnations of international human rights abuses, including poor prison conditions.
Neither Yale University nor the White House returned requests for comment regarding Ben-Gvir’s U.S. visit. Emmer’s office also did not respond to multiple inquiries.
Ben-Gvir is next scheduled to speak at an event on New York’s Upper East Side, focusing on “securing Israel post-Oct. 7.” His continued presence in the U.S., and the political support he claims to have received, further expose the deepening ties between America’s far-right leaders and Israel’s most extreme political figures.
“Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war,” said UNRWA’s Philippe Lazzarini.
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