Podcast Summary

NPR Throughline: The Rise of the Right Wing in Israel

Original Air Date: October 16, 2025
Hosts: Rund Abdelfattah & Ramtin Arablouei
Featured Analysts/Historians: Sarah Yael Hirshhorn, Natasha Roth Rowland, Amjad Araki

Episode Overview

This episode of Throughline delves into the historical and political evolution of right-wing movements in Israel, leading to the ascent of figures like Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir. With the backdrop of the recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the hosts revisit Israel’s political history, examining how the right moved from the margins to dominate the political mainstream. The episode traces roots from 20th-century radical Zionism through watershed moments like the Oslo Accords and Rabin’s assassination to the rise of contemporary far-right leaders and policies.

Major Segments and Key Discussion Points

1. Backdrop: Oslo Accords & Rabin’s Assassination

(00:17 – 10:09)

• Setting the Scene: In 1995, Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, pursuing a peace process with the Palestinians (00:17).
• Right-Wing Protest: Mass demonstrations led by Likud politicians, including a fiery Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced Rabin as a traitor for concessions to Palestinians (01:47, 04:05).
  • “We are here because we will never allow Jerusalem to be divided anew.” - Netanyahu at the 1995 rally (05:16)
• Incitement and Assassination: Intense rhetoric and Nazi imagery targeting Rabin. Weeks later, Rabin is assassinated by Igal Amir, an Israeli Jew (06:50).
  • “It's like the JFK moment for Israel. Where were you when Rabin was assassinated?” - Historian Sarah Yael Hirshhorn (07:23)
  • “Netanyahu doesn't really take responsibility. The Israeli right doesn't take responsibility.” - Natasha Roth Rowland (07:53)
• Impact: Rabin’s assassination is seen as a turning point, exposing the depth of right-wing rage and catalyzing their further rise (08:07).

Notable Quote

“The fact that this assassination was perpetrated not by, you know, a Palestinian terrorist... but by a fellow Jew was totally shocking to a country and ripped the country apart.”
— Sarah Yael Hirshhorn (08:29)

2. Roots of the Israeli Right: Revisionist Zionism and Kahanism

(12:26 – 27:33)

• Post-1967 Landscape and the JDL: The Six-Day War gives Israel control of West Bank and Gaza; in the US, the Jewish Defense League (JDL) rises, adopting the mantra “never again” and advocating militant self-defense (12:30, 13:47).
  • JDL founder, Rabbi Meir Kahane, embraces “Revisionist Zionism” — envisioning an exclusively Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River (14:53).
• Radicalization and Migration to Israel: Kahane’s activism, his founding of the Kach party, and push for a Jewish theocracy and segregation (17:36).
  • “I've always said that Western democracy is incompatible with Zionism.” – Kahane (17:46)
  • Outlawed and ultimately assassinated, Kahane’s ideas (“Kahanism”) outlive him, inspiring a generation of Jewish militants and far-right politicians (26:30).
• Political Context: Until the late 1970s, Israeli politics dominated by the Labor left; 1977 brings the Likud’s Menachem Begin to power, institutionalizing hardline positions on settlements and rejecting Palestinian statehood (19:26–22:12).

Notable Quote

“No guilt. The country is ours. Every inch of it… No guilt. It's our country, it's not theirs.”
— Meir Kahane (18:38)

3. Mainstreaming the Far Right: Ben Gvir and the Post-Oslo Era

(29:17 – 37:09)

• Itamar Ben Gvir’s Emergence: A teenager at the anti-Oslo protests (1995), Ben Gvir gains notoriety, becoming a symbol of ultra-right activism (29:47).
  • On TV, holds Rabin’s car ornament: “If we can get to Rabin’s car, we can also get to Rabin.” (29:59)
• Radical Politics and Legal Troubles: Barred from military service due to extremism, Ben Gvir repeatedly indicted for racism, incitement, and support of terrorism (32:03).
• Legitimacy and Power: Becomes head of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a Kahanist-descended party; known for advocating for mass expulsion of Palestinians and previously displaying a photo of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred Palestinians in Hebron (34:23).
• Societal Segregation: Oslo Accords’ partial separation of Israelis and Palestinians entrenches both physical and ideological distance, enabling greater acceptance of hardline views (35:39).

Notable Quote

“You have a wholesale internalization of the idea that this kind of violence is not only normal… but is actually justifiable and righteous… you are doing it for love of your people and love of your country. That message is going to resonate.” — Natasha Roth Rowland (36:13)

4. Benjamin Netanyahu: Architect of Modern Right-Wing Power

(38:54 – 54:55)

• Early Life and Positions: Netanyahu (Ben Nitai on US TV) opposes Palestinian statehood, drawing on both his revisionist family roots and American political experience (39:03–41:17).
  • “I think the United States should oppose the creation of a Palestinian state for several reasons…” - Netanyahu, age 28 (40:01)
• Political Rise: Returns to Israel, rapidly ascends Likud ranks, uses US-inspired campaign tactics, and leverages post-Oslo chaos to become Prime Minister in the 1990s (42:33–44:31).
• Consolidation Through Crisis: As violence escalates (Second Intifada), the right-wing narrative — that concessions lead to attacks — finds broad support (45:01).
  • “The answer that was provided… was to say, like, actually the right wingers were right.” — Amjad Araki (45:06)
• Shifting Alliances and Further Right: After losing and regaining power, Netanyahu increasingly partners with ultra-nationalist and religious parties, eventually making deals with Ben Gvir and other far-right figures to maintain political leverage (47:09–48:09).
• Political Survival and Polarization: Netanyahu’s willingness to appease the most extreme elements drastically shifts the Overton window in Israeli politics, normalizing radical rhetoric and policy (50:10–50:42).

Notable Quote

“If you kind of just keep pushing the envelope, you'll find that there are actually no consequences. So why wouldn't you just keep going more right wing?” — Amjad Araki (50:42)

5. The Present: Judicial Crisis, Protests, and Unresolved Tensions

(51:06 – 54:55)

• Judicial Overhaul and Mass Protests: The Netanyahu government’s 2023 move to gut Supreme Court oversight triggers massive nationwide protests — but mostly among Jewish Israelis, not Palestinians (51:06–52:40).
  • “They were simply protesting… against what they saw as the potential curtailment of their own rights as Jews in a Jewish state.” — Natasha Roth Rowland (52:59)
  • “It is a battle to… reclaim a bit more of an image that we’re democracy for Jewish Israelis.” — Amjad Araki (53:34)
• Societal Fracture: The left-right chasm is described as existential, nearly pushing the nation towards civil conflict prior to the October 7th Hamas attacks. The war temporarily unifies society, but deep divisions remain (54:07).

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Netanyahu at 1995 Rally:
  “We are here because we will never allow Jerusalem to be divided anew.” (05:16)
• On the Psychological Impact of Rabin’s Assassination:
  “It's like the JFK moment for Israel. Where were you when Rabin was assassinated?” — Sarah Yael Hirshhorn (07:23)
• Kahane’s Extremism:
  “No guilt. The country is ours. Every inch of it… No guilt. It's our country, it's not theirs.” — Meir Kahane (18:38)
• Ben Gvir on TV:
  “If we can get to Rabin’s car, we can also get to Rabin.” (29:59)
• On Normalizing Violence:
  “You are doing it for love of your people and love of your country. That message is going to resonate.” — Natasha Roth Rowland (36:13)
• Netanyahu’s Early Position:
  “I think the United States should oppose the creation of a Palestinian state for several reasons.” — Benjamin Netanyahu (40:01)
• Rightward Drift Post-Intifada:
  “The answer that was provided to that was to say, like, actually the right wingers were right.” — Amjad Araki (45:06)
• No Consequences for Going Further Right:
  “If you kind of just keep pushing the envelope, you'll find that there are actually no consequences.” — Amjad Araki (50:42)

Key Takeaways

• The assassination of Rabin cemented the right’s ascendancy, as anti-peace, anti-compromise rhetoric became normalized.
• Figures like Kahane and Ben Gvir, once marginalized as extremists, have shaped, inspired, and eventually entered mainstream politics.
• Netanyahu’s political survival is intertwined with the legitimization and empowerment of ultra-nationalist and religious right-wing factions.
• Recent attempts to limit judicial oversight have sparked mass protest, but these movements are largely about Jewish Israeli democracy, not Palestinian rights.
• The deep polarization in Israeli society remains, with the threat of civil strife only tempered, not resolved, by periods of outward crisis.

Episode Structure & Navigation

• 00:17 – Context: Post-2023 Conflict, Oslo Accords history
• 06:50 – Rabin Assassination
• 12:26 – Roots of Right-wing Movements (JDL, Kahane)
• 19:26 – Likud’s rise in 1977
• 29:17 – Itamar Ben Gvir and Kahanism in the 21st Century
• 38:54 – The Netanyahu Era: Strategy, Legitimization, and Division
• 51:06 – Judicial Crisis and Societal Polarization
• 54:07 – Reflections on Division, Civil Strife, and Unresolved Tensions

This episode is rich in historical context, firsthand analysis, and makes clear how decades of shifting alliances, political calculations, and societal trauma have propelled the Israeli right to unprecedented levels of power, with significant implications for the country’s future direction and for peace in the region.