No one can dispute that Ben-Gvir is a clown. He’s given to making aggressive, hyperbolic statements. He’s the opposite of diplomatic. Yes, he's often a thorn in Netanyahu's side.

However, to call for the death of enemies who've launched well over 10,000 rockets into your territory since the 1990s, killing and wounding hundreds, isn't quite the faux pas it's made out to be.

What people seem to miss is to whom Ben-Gvir's remarks are addressed. He's not talking to the international community. He has no power to direct defense operations. He does not shape foreign policy. He’s a minister of Internal Security. That means prisons, police, border patrol. His presence in the cabinet is a concession by Netanyahu to that small percentage of the Israeli public whom Ben-Gvir represents. Governments in Israel are made up of coalitions between diverse parties. Even within a ruling coalition there can be a fair amount of disagreement. When there’s too much disagreement they hold new elections.

Ben-Gvir’s remarks are addressed to that small slice of the far-right Israeli public whom he represents. It’s a democracy. People express a wide range of attitudes and beliefs. Somehow, it works.

You want context? On MEMRI you can watch Arab-language broadcasts translated into English— in other words, remarks addressed to their own citizens, not to the wider non-Arabic-speaking world. You will hear high ranking government officials from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc. calling for the immediate annihilation of the state of Israel. Like rockets from Hezbollah, that's been going on for decades, too. Those speeches might put Ben-Gvir's remarks in a different light.