Legitimizing violence as a state policy:
Ben-Gvir defines the Palestinian as a permissible target for murder.
By Marwan Sultan.
30 of November 2025. Translated from Arabic by Ibrahim Ebeid.
Violence in Israel is no longer just the result of friction on the ground or security tension. Still, it has turned into a political language that reflects the essence of the Jewish state’s stage. The photo that emerged from Jenin, of two Palestinian youths raising their hands before they were shot by the occupation soldiers, not only revealed a documented crime, but also exposed the perspective with which Israel deals with the Palestinians: a permissible target, which does not require accountability and does not impose restrictions. The statement by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, promising to promote an officer whose soldiers were involved in the killing of the two young men, added an even more dangerous dimension, as killing becomes a criterion for professional excellence, and a political message addressed to the Israeli interior that excessive force is not an excess, but a legitimate practice that deserves to be rewarded.
Fate has wanted to reveal how Israel views and deals with its opponents, and that their policy shows one thing: Israel is not defending itself, but rather a policy of killing that it puts on the table against everything that is Palestinian. The fact that Israeli soldiers killed two young men who had surrendered to the Israeli soldiers, and came out of a place in the Jenin area where there is an IDF operation, with their hands raised, without any weapons, and the Israeli army killing them is a picture that the whole world has seen. There was a camera by chance, and it documented the event, and the question that remains for everyone who witnessed the incident is, how many people were killed with a false account? How many were killed according to the claims of the Israeli army under the pretext of self-defense, and was there no justification for the killing?
All those who witnessed the scene, including international politicians, condemned the incident and expressed regret for such incidents that violate humanity. But what prompted me to write this article was a statement by Ben Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security, published in the Haaretz newspaper today, in which he says: “Ben-Gvir informs the commander of the undercover unit of the Border Police forces that he will receive a promotion for killing two Palestinian soldiers in Jenin.”
It is not strange for Ben-Gvir to make such statements, or to introduce such policies, or to allocate rewards for killings! In its meaning, it is devoid of political understanding and does not understand its own meanings. And if I realize, it suffers in every sense of the word, that the Israeli government is an extremist, populist government that narrows the distance between it and the international community in the language of understanding and political action.
Yes, Israel has not been the first time that it killed Palestinians in this way, it did not threaten the security of the soldiers or the security of Israel, and the incident is repeated almost every day. Still, it is the first time that it has legalized the killing of prisoners, or the identification of civilians raising their hands in front of the occupation soldiers, in all meanings that are devoid of political and military knowledge, understanding of state administration, and the right to self-defense.
This means that here in the Palestinian territories, murder has become illegal, and the field executions that take place mean that violence against Palestinians is no longer a result of the battlefield, but has become a political tool and an internal message directed at the bases of the extreme right.
The Israeli right reinforces the notion that murder against Palestinians is that the killer becomes a national hero. This is not the first time that the perpetrator of the massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a reservist with a medical degree from the United States and a member of the far-right Kach movement, Baruch Goldstein, whose grave was erected in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, has become a shrine for Israeli extremists and is considered a national hero. This means that the Palestinian has been revoked as an adversary and even as a suspect in the conflict between the occupation and the citizens, and wherever he is found, he has become a permissible target.
In introducing these awards to the Israeli security establishment, for its members killing Palestinians, Ben-Gvir introduces a new standard in promotions: “Murder is the path to professional advancement.” Israel may pay the price for this immoral criterion, to increase the pace of extremism in Israeli society.
Israel was accused of exaggerating its military operations, when it caused significant human losses among Palestinian civilians, which led to the formation of an international stereotype about what the Jewish state was that enjoyed international sympathy and support without limits, but the losses that occurred among Palestinian civilians turned the tables around, to bring about a qualitative change in the reputation of Israel, and with the continuation of this approach, which has become exposed to international public opinion in the form of pictures and televised videos It looks like it’s going to get more complicated. The spread of murder leads to widespread hatred, after which it is difficult to regain control.
Ben-Gvir’s statements are not just a passing emotion or linguistic excess. It is part of a political project to redefine power within Israel based on the rise of extremism and the rise of the Israeli far-right, pushing the security establishment into a more radical pattern and buying the military’s loyalty to the far right. When we talk about the rise of the right, the world should know that this is the language of this extreme right-wing segment that sees only itself, and everything else to serve it only.
