When Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reached voting age, he was rejected from Israel's army for being too politically extreme. His views have not changed much in the 30 years since then - but Israel has. Once shunned by the political establishment, he is now part of the government's inner sanctum of ministers.
On the campaign trail ahead of Israel's general elections next week, Ben Gvir is often surrounded by a jubilant pack of fresh-faced young fans, waving huge party flags over the heads of his numerous security guards. At the covered market in Ramle - a mixed city of Jewish and Arab Israelis - he told us his message to young voters was to get out and vote. "We see the support, we see the love [and] we want to win!" he said.
More than half a million first-time voters will cast their ballots in this election, which many Israelis see as existential for Israel's future security and identity. Polls suggest it will be a tight race, and the new young voters could help decide the result. More than 16% are planning to support far-right parties - either Ben Gvir's Jewish Power or the Religious Zionism party of his far-right ally Bezalel Smotrich - according to a poll for one of Israel's most popular newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth.
And almost three-quarters see themselves as "right or centre-right", according to another survey for Israel's leading Channel 12 television network. "Itamar Ben Gvir gives me a sense of security," said 20-year-old Mordechai, one of the young fans accompanying the politician to Ramle. "Like everyone in history, from Trump to Moses, there are slips of the tongue that are a bit less good.
So what? 90% of the things by Itamar are amazing." "Itamar will give us safety, and when we go to the army, someone will have our backs and be behind us," said 18-year-old Nadav. "I think he's trying to show that we're a strong country. For many years, we couldn't show we're strong in our beliefs.
We couldn't express our ideology." Meir Schreiber, an ultra-Orthodox 23-year-old who grew up in London, said the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, which triggered the Gaza war, also convinced him that Ben Gvir was the right choice. "Young people understand that peace isn't something we can do," he told me, "because what happens to you when you're young shapes your personality - we saw October 7." Ben Gvir is a divisive candidate in a divided nation: his political positions include annexation of the occupied West Bank, Jewish settlement of Gaza, and the "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians - positions and rhetoric that are widely condemned by liberal Israelis. Several Western countries have imposed sanctions or travel bans on Ben Gvir and Smotrich for incitement against Palestinians.
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