The years of media attacks, parodies, and indictments have only boosted Ben Gvir’s influence

The Gordon swimming pool facing the Tel Aviv marina is frequented by the cream of Israeli society. Many of the nation’s leading doctors, lawyers, and celebrities are among the pool’s patrons. Their delicate sensibilities were offended 11 years ago, when a group of 40 Sudanese refugees led by right-wing firebrand MK Michael Ben-Ari and his aide Itamar Ben Gvir demanded admission to the pool as part of a campaign to prove the hypocrisy of Israel’s secular elite.

At first the pool staff refused to allow the refugees in, pointing out that they didn’t have swimming gear. But when one of the Otzma Yehudit activists pulled out swimsuits for the Sudanese, and Ben Gvir warned the staff that they could be sued for discrimination, the staff caved.

The refugees’ entrance caused consternation, with some swimmers storming out, but others realized what was afoot and welcomed the refugees.

The long-forgotten incident was an early example of Itamar Ben Gvir’s signature, divisive style, featuring legal nous and media-savvy in service of right-wing causes.

In a sense, the phenomenon known as Itamar Ben Gvir — the star of this election cycle — was built by the media, which has amplified his name at every opportunity. The same holds true of his old friends and fellow controversial Kahanist disciples Ben-Ari, Bentzi Gopstein, and Baruch Marzel.

But Ben Gvir’s case is qualitatively different from that of his old friends. An advocate of increased Jewish access to Har Habayis, the Otzma Yehudit leader has used heavily guarded tours of the area to create a media spectacle, drawing attention to the issue.

That in turn has earned him unusually forceful denunciations from both the Rishon L’Tzion Rav Yitzchak Yosef, and Chevron rosh yeshivah Rav Dovid Cohen, who accused him of a “chillul Hashem” in ignoring the opinions of mainstream poskim on a matter of the greatest halachic severity. Rav Dovid went so far as to say, “Those supporting him are toying with their portion in Olam Haba.”

Yet in certain circles, these reckless provocations are the very source of his appeal. The man whose supporters love his pistol-packing advocacy for the use of greater force in restive Arab areas — and who has been accused by opponents of being a provocateur — is about to be appointed a minister in Netanyahu’s new government.