Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted an AI-generated TikTok video declaring he 'dreams' of nooses, celebrating a law that mandates death by hanging exclusively for Palestinian detainees.
The video, which co-opted a viral social media audio trend, arrived just two days after Ben Gvir's 50th birthday party, where his wife presented him with a cake topped with a golden noose and the inscription 'Congratulations Minister Ben Gvir, sometimes dreams come true.'
The TikTok Video: AI Nooses and a Viral Trend Weaponised
Ben Gvir posted the video to his TikTok account on 4 May 2026, using the viral 'I know I should sleep, but the voices in my head go...' audio trend as its soundtrack. The footage consists entirely of AI-generated imagery: everyday objects, rendered in artificial detail, morphed into the shapes of gallows and hanging ropes.
@itamar_ben_gvir אני חולם על עונש מ!!ת למח.בלים, על מה אתם חולמים? #foryou #פוריו #בןגביר #itamarbengvir
♬ Voices In My Head x Freaks x Love Parade - ACINA
Text overlaid on the video declared that he dreams of the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners, using slang in Hebrew that translates directly to 'I am dying to execute the terrorists.' The clip spread rapidly across platforms, with commenters across the political spectrum expressing disbelief that a sitting government minister had produced and published such content.
Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi responded directly, stating that Ben Gvir and his wife 'need a psychiatrist immediately,' adding: 'Usually, people wish for a better future and love with a birthday cake, but these people sanctify hatred and death.' Social media reactions ranged from accusations of incitement to calls for international legal accountability. One widely shared post read: 'This is not normal behaviour; who dreams of killing people.'
The TikTok did not arrive without context. Just weeks earlier, on 18 March 2026, Ben Gvir had posted a separate, now deleted, video to X, standing in front of a visible gallows to deny rumours of his death, stating in Hebrew: 'I am dead with longing to execute the terrorists. Death penalty for terrorists now!'
Hamas described that post as 'public incitement to killing' and warned of repercussions, calling Ben Gvir's repeated glorification of execution 'an extremist mentality' and demanding urgent international action to protect Palestinian detainees from what it called a policy of state killing.
The Birthday Party, the Golden Noose Cake and the Police Chiefs Who Attended
On the evening of 2 May 2026, Ben Gvir held his 50th birthday celebration at Villa Space in Moshav Emunim, southern Israel. The centrepiece was a three-tiered cake bearing Ben Gvir's portrait, a map of Greater Israel, two guns, and a golden noose. His wife, Ayala, presented him with a second, smaller cake also decorated with a hanging noose, inscribed with the words: 'Congratulations Minister Ben Gvir, sometimes dreams come true.' Photographs and video from the event showed Ben Gvir smiling at both cakes.
@itamar_ben_gvir תודה לראש הממשלה על הברכות החמות, ותודה לכל מי שלקח חלק ביום ההולדת שלי. נמשיך לפעול למען עם ישראל וארץ ישראל 🇮🇱
♬ צליל מקורי - איתמר בן גביר
According to the Times of Israel, attendees included Jerusalem District Police Commander Avshalom Peled, Judea and Samaria District Commander Moshe Pinchi, Southern District Police Chief Haim Bublil, Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, and senior prison district commanders from the central, southern and northern regions.
Police Commissioner Danny Levy restricted attendance to the most senior national command staff only, issuing an internal memo warning lower-ranking officers to stay away, citing concerns about the political optics of uniformed personnel appearing at an event staged by the minister who oversees their institution.
Ben Gvir's Birthday Cake is Decorated With A Noose
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) May 2, 2026
The Cake Reads: Congratulations Minister Ben Gvir. Sometimes dreams come true
Even in celebrating birth he wants more death. Very disturbing. pic.twitter.com/9TXiXtorVV
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attacked the attendance in terms that were publicly unambiguous. According to the Jerusalem Post, Bennett stated: 'Any public servant, in any role and in any government organisation, who violates their duty of loyalty to the state and exploits their position in a political and non-statesmanlike manner, will be dismissed immediately.' Ben Gvir responded on social media: 'Naftali has no friends and no working relationships either, send him a cake from the party.'
The Law Behind the Noose: Death by Hanging for Palestinians Only
The death penalty Ben Gvir celebrates is real, recently passed legislation. On 30 March 2026, the Knesset voted 62 to 47 to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, mandating death by hanging as the default sentence for West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly terrorist acts in military courts. The law requires sentences to be carried out within 90 days of final ruling. Judges may consider life imprisonment only under vaguely defined 'special circumstances.' Israeli citizens and residents are explicitly excluded from the military court provision: Jewish settlers, who commit violence against Palestinians, are tried instead in civilian courts, where no mandatory death sentence applies.
Human Rights Watch described it as entrenching 'discrimination and a two-tiered system of justice, both hallmarks of apartheid,' noting that the 90-day execution timeline and severe restrictions on appeals were designed to 'kill Palestinian detainees faster and with less scrutiny.' The Association of Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition with the Supreme Court within minutes of the vote, calling the law 'discriminatory by design.' The representative of the Attorney General, the Shin Bet security service, the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry had all appeared before the Knesset National Security Committee to oppose the bill before it passed.
I am at loss of words.
— Shahn Khalfan (@ShahnKhalfan) May 2, 2026
They're are celebrating the ability ti murder hostages.
Carpet bombing, starvation and chemical warfare isn't sufficient.
They had to add hanging.
Ben Gvir is Zionist pig. He will rot in hell with the rest of the Epstein class.
According to B'Tselem, Palestinian military courts carry a conviction rate of approximately 96 per cent, with many convictions based on confessions obtained through torture during interrogation. Palestinian prisoner advocacy group Addameer reported that more than a third of the roughly 9,500 Palestinians in Israeli detention as of March 2026 were held under administrative detention, meaning they had not been charged, tried or convicted of anything at all.
Sick.... These war criminals and Holocaust perps need to be locked up.. What kind of place is this
— Ava (@AvaMuson) May 3, 2026
Ben Gvir's campaign for this law has spanned years and has included escalating displays. In December 2025, he and members of his Otzma Yehudit party wore metal noose lapel pins to a National Security Committee hearing on the bill. He told the chamber that 'the noose is just one of the options,' alongside the electric chair and euthanasia.
In October 2025, he raided Ofer Prison, standing over Palestinian detainees lying face-down with their hands tied, and was quoted saying: 'This is how we treat them, and all that's left is to execute them.'
A minister who toasts to executions with a golden noose cake, then publishes it to the world, is not hiding his intentions: he is daring the world to stop him.
