Ben-Gvir is infamous for his inflammatory remarks about the Palestinians and his support for the use of violence in the West Bank [Getty]
Israel’s extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated his 50th birthday with a cake featuring a noose on it, in reference to a recent death penalty law targeting Palestinian captives.
Videos online showed the ultranationalist at the party, with Hebrew writing on the cake reading: “Congratulations Minister Ben-Gvir. Sometimes dreams come true.”
Some social media users said the cake was a gift from his wife, Ayala.
According to The Times of Israel, the birthday party was already controversial after Ben-Gvir invited members of the police’s General Command Staff, a security agency his ministry oversees. He has been accused of abusing his ministerial powers.
The highly controversial law, passed by a majority in the Israeli parliament in March, mandates the death penalty for Palestinians and has been championed by Ben-Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party.
Under the legislation, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism” will face the death penalty as a default sentence.
The law has been slammed by rights groups, while a UN watchdog saying it perpetuates racial discrimination and is unprecedented in its design, creating a system of capital punishment that applies exclusively to one population under occupation.
They warn that such a framework, combining the death penalty with military courts and limited avenues for appeal, marks a troubling departure from broader international norms.
“When incitement to kill Palestinian hostages becomes a “birthday cake”, it reveals the true mentality governing the policies of the [Israeli] occupation,” one account wrote in a caption over the video on X.
“This is not just extremism; this is complete moral depravity.”
Another X user wrote: “Even in celebrating birth he wants more death. Very disturbing.”
Israel has only applied the death penalty twice: in 1948, shortly after the state’s founding, against a military captain accused of high treason, and then in 1962, when the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was hanged.
