Far-right leader’s wife brings handgun to Netanyahu lunch at plush Jerusalem hotel

‘I am married to the most threatened man in the country. I have a gun – deal with it’

THE wife of a far-right Israeli politician posed for a photograph with a pistol tucked into the waistband of her skirt at a “team building” meeting with the partners of future ministers in the new coalition government.

Ayala Ben-gvir claimed she had to take the gun to the five-star Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem because she is a Jewish settler from Hebron and her husband, Itamar, is “the most threatened man in the country”.

In the picture, she is seen standing next to Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, as he holds talks on forming a new government after his election victory earlier this month.

Mrs Ben-gvir said in a Twitter post that she had received criticism over the photograph. She wrote: “I live in Hebron, a mother to six sweet children and drive on terror-stricken roads.

“I am also married to the most threatened man in the country. I have a gun. Deal with it.”

Israel’s West Bank settlements, such as Kiryat Arba near Hebron where the

Ben-gvir family live, are regarded as illegal under international law and are not recognised by most countries, including Britain.

It is not unusual for settlers to carry firearms, which they say are a necessary defence against Palestinian attackers.

Yesterday, three Israelis were killed in a stabbing and car-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

In response to the incident Mr Bengivr tweeted: “Only an iron fist will cut down terrorism.” The 46-year-old politician also carries a gun and recently brandished it during an election rally in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.

Last December, he pulled out his weapon during an argument with an Arab security guard in a car park in Tel Aviv, claiming he felt threatened.

His Religious Zionism movement emerged as the third largest party in this month’s elections and he has demanded to become Israel’s police and security minister as a result.

Mr Ben-gvir is a hugely controversial figure due to his 2007 conviction for inciting racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist organisation.

He also used to keep a photograph of mass-murderer Baruch Goldstein on display in his living room. Goldstein, an Israeli-american, gunned down 29 Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Hebron in 1994.