Generating quantum entanglement in large systems on timescales much shorter than the coherence time is key to powerful quantum simulation and computation. Trapped ions are among the most accurately controlled and best isolated quantum systems1 with low-error entanglement gates operated within tens of microseconds using the vibrational motion of few-ion crystals2,3. To exceed the level of complexity tractable by classical computers the main challenge is to realize fast entanglement operations in crystals made up of many ions (large ion crystals)4. The strong dipole–dipole interactions in polar molecule5 and Rydberg atom6,7 systems allow much faster entangling gates, yet stable state-independent confinement comparable with trapped ions needs to be demonstrated in these systems8. Here we combine the benefits of these approaches: we report a two-ion entangling gate with 700-nanosecond gate time that uses the strong dipolar interaction between trapped Rydberg ions, which we use to produce a Bell state with 78 per cent fidelity. The sources of gate error are identified and a total error of less than 0.2 per cent is predicted for experimentally achievable parameters. Furthermore, we predict that residual coupling to motional modes contributes an approximate gate error of 10−4 in a large ion crystal of 100 ions. This provides a way to speed up and scale up trapped-ion quantum computers and simulators substantially.