Far-right minister who visited contested Jerusalem site has long history of controversy

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (AP) — Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site on Wednesday in what he described as a protest against the recognition of a Palestinian state by three European countries.

It was the latest act of defiance by an ultranationalist settler leader who has transformed himself over the decades from an outlaw and provocateur into one of Israel's most influential politicians.

In his Cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversees the country's police force. As a key coalition partner, Ben-Gvir also has the power to rob Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority and force early elections.

Ben-Gvir has used his influence to push forward pet projects and encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza against widespread calls to reach a cease-fire deal that would bring home hostages.

The stunning rise of Ben-Gvir, 48, is the culmination of years of efforts by the media-savvy lawmaker to gain legitimacy. But it also reflects a rightward shift in the Israeli electorate that brought his religious, ultranationalist ideology into the mainstream and diminished hopes for Palestinian independence.

Here is a closer look at Ben-Gvir:

Ben-Gvir has been convicted eight times for offenses that include racism and supporting a terrorist organization. As a teen, his views were so extreme that the army banned him from compulsory military service.

Ben-Gvir gained notoriety in his youth as a follower of the late racist rabbi Meir Kahane. He first became a national figure when Ben-Gvir famously broke a hood ornament off then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s car in 1995.

“We got to his car, and we’ll get to him too,” he said, just weeks before Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to his peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Two years later, Ben-Gvir took responsibility for orchestrating a campaign of protests, including death threats, that forced Irish singer Sinead O’Connor to cancel a concert for peace in Jerusalem.

Ben-Gvir is trained as a lawyer and gained recognition as a successful defense attorney for extremist Jews accused of violence against Palestinians.

With a quick wit and cheerful demeanor, the outspoken Ben-Gvir also became a popular fixture in the media, paving his way to enter politics. He was first elected to parliament in 2021.

Ben-Gvir has called for deporting his political opponents, and in the past has encouraged police to open fire on Palestinian stone-throwers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood while brandishing a pistol. As national security minister, he has encouraged police to take a tough line against anti-government protesters.

Ben-Gvir secured his Cabinet post after 2022 elections that put Netanyahu and his far-right partners, including Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party, into power.

“Over the last year I’ve been on a mission to save Israel,” Ben-Gvir told reporters before that election. “Millions of citizens are waiting for a real right-wing government. The time has come to give them one.”

Ben-Gvir has been a magnet of controversy throughout his tenure — encouraging the mass distribution of handguns to Jewish citizens, backing Netanyahu's contentious attempt to overhaul the country's legal system and frequently lashing out at U.S. leaders for perceived slights against Israel. He has threatened to bring down the government if Israel does not launch a full-fledged invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Early this month, Ben-Gvir criticized Joe Biden when the U.S. president threatened to withhold certain military aid if Israel invades Rafah. Ben-Gvir, using a heart emoji in a post to “X,” wrote that Hamas loves Biden.

On Wednesday, Ben-Gvir toured the contested hilltop compound that is home to the Al Aqsa Mosque to denounce a decision from Spain, Ireland and Norway to recognize a Palestinian state.

Palestinians consider the mosque a national symbol and view such visits as provocative, though Ben-Gvir has frequently visited the site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, during tense periods. Tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence.

Ben-Gvir said he wanted to make a statement “from the holiest place for the people of Israel, which belongs only to the state of Israel.”

FILE - Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, denouncing the decision from Spain, Ireland, and Norway to recognize a Palestinian state. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine residents this week overwhelmingly approved a referendum to limit donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, setting the stage for a legal showdown over caps on individual contributions to so-called super PACs that spend freely in elections.

In the nation's only campaign finance reform initiative on the ballot on Election Day, residents voted to cap individual donations to super PACs at $5,000. Supporters fully expect a lawsuit that they hope will bring clarity to PAC donations after the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to unlimited spending by super PACs.

The measure was carefully crafted to survive legal challenges as states try to find a way to regulate campaign spending after the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, said state Sen. Rick Bennett, a supporter of the proposal.

"We’ve become a place where our democracy is being bought and sold by the richest people in our country," said Bennett, a Republican from Oxford. “People of all political stripes support this measure. The only people who really oppose this are the monied interests who abuse the system.”

The Supreme Court opened the floodgates for big business and labor unions to spend freely on elections in the Citizens United decision, and a Court of Appeals decision three months later lifted limits on individual spending.

The Maine initiative doesn't attempt to limit independent spending on behalf of candidates. It focuses instead on limits on individual donations to super PACS, an area the Supreme Court has not ruled on, observers say.

Cara McCormick, leader of Citizens to End Super PACs in Maine, said the goal is to reduce the outsized influence that super PACs currently enjoy through so-called “dark money” spending.

Political nonprofit groups are not required to disclose their donors and do not have to reveal much about how they spend the donations they receive. A super PAC may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to campaign independently for candidates for federal office. Its activities must be reported to the Federal Elections Commission but is not otherwise regulated if not coordinated with the candidate or campaign.

“We have the right to stand up to the big money in politics in Maine. We’re asserting our right to limit the amount of money that someone can give to a super PAC to eliminate not only corruption in our politics but the appearance of corruption in our politics. We think that’s something worth fighting for,” McCormick said.

In Maine, the limit would only apply to PACs spending money on behalf of candidates, not ballot committees involved in referendums. Maine law currently limits contributions to candidates, not PACs. For general elections, individuals can contribute a maximum of $1,950 to a gubernatorial candidate and $475 to a legislative candidate.

Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, a longtime advocate for campaign finance reform, and his Equal Citizens nonprofit backed the Maine referendum. A similar citizen initiative effort in Massachusetts was blocked by the attorney general on constitutional concerns.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue of individual contributions to PACs, and long-established case law supports the notion that states can limit individual contributions to PACs despite a decision to the contrary by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Lessig said.

The concern with unlimited individual contributions is the risk of a quid pro quo even when super PACs are spending independently and not coordinating directly with a candidate, Lessig said.

The matter will ultimately have to be decided by the Supreme Court.

“I’m very optimistic that the U.S. Supreme Court will apply existing jurisprudence that states are free to limit contributions,” he said. “The issue that this case would raise is not asking the Supreme Court to change its jurisprudence, not asking them to overturn Citizens United.”

The Maine law goes into effect this winter, if there is no legal challenge, after an emphatic vote. Nearly 75% of voters supported the citizen initiative.

A voter-approved Maine limit on PAC contributions sets the stage for a legal challenge

Voters fill out their ballots on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

A voter-approved Maine limit on PAC contributions sets the stage for a legal challenge