Israel, on Minister Ben Gvir's cake a noose for Palestinians accused of terrorism

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's birthday has ignited political confrontation in Israel. To celebrate, in fact, the minister received a multi-storey cake decorated with a cough, weapons and a controversial map of Israel that includes Gaza and the West Bank. Even ua second cake, delivered by Ben Gvir's wife, still bore the noose and the inscription: "Congratulations to Minister Ben-Gvir. Sometimes dreams come true'.

Un frame dal video pubblicato su Instagram da Itamar Ben-Gvir, in cui il ministro della Sicurezza Nazionale israeliana al suo 50/o compleanno mostra la torta donatagli dalla moglie raffigurante un cappio - simbolo controverso di appoggio alla misura della reintroduzione della pena di morte in Israele applicabile a palestinesi considerati terroristi - oltre che la scritta "Congratulazioni al ministro Ben-Gvir. A volte i sogni si avverano", 3 maggio 2026 Instagram / Itamar Ben-Gvir

The noose symbol refers directly to the reintroduction of the capital punishment for Palestinians accused of terrorism, supported by Ben Gvir and his party Otzmá Yehudit and approved by the Knesset at the end of March. The minister himself had already used the noose symbol during several occasions of debates on the measure. Images of the cake were disseminated on the social channels of the minister's far-right party.

The celebration was held in the farming community of Emunim, near Ashdod, in the south of the country. Among the guests were politicians, far-right activists and members of the police staff. It was precisely the presence of senior police officials that fuelled the controversy, partly because of the role of the minister, who supervises the police and has already been criticised and investigated for alleged undue influence on the police.

Oppositions have spoken out harshly on this episode. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a candidate in this autumn's elections, denounced the risk of political use of institutions, saying that 'any public official, in any role and in any government agency, who violates his or her fiduciary duty to the country and exploits his or her role in a political and non-statist manner, will be fired immediately'. Yair Golan also called the participation of the police leadership in such an event 'a disgrace'.

Ben Gvir responded in a polemical tone, dismissing the criticism and mocking his opponents. "Naftali has no friends or even business relations: send him a piece of cake from the party," Ben Gvir replied.