Billionaire Trump backer says Ben-Gvir, Smotrich should not serve in next Israeli government

By Steven Scheer and Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Billionaire American investor Bill Ackman on Sunday said that Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich should not serve in Israel’s next government, saying the two far-right politicians had caused enormous damage to the country’s reputation.

The public intervention by the prominent hedge fund manager, who is Jewish, comes just two days before Israel’s general election, in which polls show a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and the opposition.

Ackman wrote on X that from the perspective of someone who had an understanding of how Israel was perceived in the United States, “Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have caused Israel enormous reputational damage with their statements and actions.”

BOTH MINISTERS HAVE FACED SANCTIONS

The founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, who praised Netanyahu last week, said a government without the two ministers would send a message that Israel was “turning a new page.”

“This will allow Israel to rebuild lost credibility, increase the opportunity for an expansion of the Abraham Accords, and enjoy a better relationship with Democrats and Republicans and Americans at large,” he said.

The Abraham Accords are the 2020 agreement, mediated by President Donald Trump’s first administration, that saw Israel establish relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. It later reestablished official ties with Morocco.

Representatives for Ben-Gvir and Smotrich did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As ministers in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have overseen policies widely perceived as discriminatory against Israel’s minority Arab population and Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.

Several countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia, have imposed sanctions on the two ministers over accusations that they have incited violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party is projected to win around 10 parliamentary seats at Tuesday’s election, up from 6, while Smotrich’s Religious Zionism is projected to win 8, up from 7.

Ackman, who was visiting Israel last week, and who along with his wife Neri Oxman owns 5% of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, supported Donald Trump’s candidacy for president in 2024. Trump last week publicly endorsed Netanyahu for prime minister.

Nimrod ⁠Goren, the president of Israeli think tank Mitvim, said Ackman’s statement appeared to reflect a desire among Trump’s circles for Netanyahu to drop his far-right allies after the vote to form a ‘unity government’ with opposition parties.

However, Gadi Eisenkot, the leading challenger to Netanyahu, and other opposition party leaders have ruled out forming a government with Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.

Speaking at a Tel Aviv conference on Thursday, Ackman praised Netanyahu, who he said had done a good job in protecting and defending Israel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for an independent inquiry into the attack that killed around 1,200 people.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Alexander Cornwell; writing by Alexander Cornwell; editing by Andrew Heavens)