Ben-Gvir under fire, including from Netanyahu, over video taunting flotilla detainees

JTA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined a chorus of Israelis and Jews denouncing his National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, for posting a video that showed him taunting detained activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that had been intercepted by the Israeli navy. 

“Welcome to Israel, we are the masters,” Ben-Gvir said in the video as he waved a large Israeli flag above the detained activists, who could be seen blindfolded and kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their backs. 

Roughly 430 activists that took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail from Turkey, were brought to the city of Ashdod aboard Israeli naval ships on Wednesday 20 May, marking the latest in a long-running series of confrontations between Israel and activists seeking to break its naval blockade of Gaza. 

In a second video posted on social media, Ben-Gvir said that the activists “came here all full of pride like big heroes. Look at them now”. He appealed to Netanyahu to grant him permission to imprison them. 

Netanyahu said in a statement that he had instructed authorities to deport the activists “as soon as possible”. But he also offered a public rebuke of Ben-Gvir. 

“Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “However, the way that Minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms.” 

The foreign ministers of several countries, including Canada, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Italy, also condemned the videos and summoned their Israeli diplomats to answer for the display. 

But some of the sharpest criticism came from within Israel, where Ben-Gvir plays a crucial role in maintaining the governing coalition while also engaging in antics that threaten to flare tensions and undercut the country’s claims that it behaves in accordance with international law. 

Ben-Gvir is “not the face of Israel”, tweeted Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in English. 

“You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display ‒ and not for the first time,” Sa’ar wrote. “You have undone tremendous, professional, and successful efforts made by so many people, from IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers to Foreign Ministry staff and many others.” 

Ben-Gvir’s videos come as his antics and rhetoric have drawn new scrutiny. Last week, he departed from long-standing norms and waved an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount, a Muslim holy site, in a show of Jewish supremacy. His oversight of Israeli prisons, where he has said he wants to see prisoners given only the minimum of food and comfort as required by law, also drew attention because of a column in The New York Times alleging sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners. 

Progressive groups heavily criticised Ben-Gvir’s video, saying that it was inappropriate for him to be part of the Israeli government. 

“The disgusting images of Israel’s National Security Minister abusing detainees from the Gaza flotilla are not just bad optics,” tweeted Mickey Gitzin, the acting chief executive of the New Israel Fund. “A government that gives a Kahanist this kind of power has already abandoned any notion of decency. These grotesque images are the real face of current Israeli policy.” 

Ben-Gvir’s videos showing the treatment of participants in the latest flotilla offered a contrast to other interceptions in which Israel has released footage appearing to show activists being treated without force. When past arrestees from flotillas have alleged abusive treatment, Israel has denied it. 

The organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla said all of its boats had been intercepted by Israel by the Tuesday evening, accusing Israel of employing “illegal, high-seas aggression”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said no live munition was used during the operation, which it said was necessary because it will “not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza”. 

Among the activists aboard the more than 50 boats in the flotilla was the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly. On Tuesday, Connolly, who was elected in October and has a record of anti-Israel rhetoric, called the detention of Irish activists aboard the flotilla “unacceptable”.