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Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich Use AI-Generated Videos to Showcase Extreme Right-Wing Campaign Platforms

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are utilizing AI-generated media to highlight their radical right-wing campaign positions ahead of the October elections. Ben Gvir released a video depicting Palestinian prisoners entering Israeli jails on an assembly line, appearing well-fed at the start and emaciated and crying by the end. Smotrich released an advertisement warning of his plan to apply settlement strategies to the Negev and Galilee, areas with large Palestinian populations, under the slogan "Ahmed is right to be afraid." These campaign moves reflect a broader trend of hardening right-wing rhetoric in Israel. While Ben Gvir has advocated for reducing prisoner conditions to the legal minimum, Smotrich has focused on the campaign plan "Yes. Let’s Judaize!" to bring a million additional Jewish residents to the region. Simultaneously, the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a crowded field of far-right parties. Netanyahu has urged Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and Ofer Winter to unite as a single bloc to avoid losing votes to smaller parties. Despite this competition, the leading candidates—Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot, and Yair Lapid—all agree on the expansion of settlements and a veto on Palestinian statehood.

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