In a significant diplomatic rebuke, France announced Saturday that it has issued an entry ban against Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, over what French officials call “unspeakable” aggressive behavior toward detained activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the ban in a public post on the social platform X, stating that the entry prohibition is effective immediately. The measure follows Ben-Gvir’s widely condemned actions against French and European citizens who were among the passengers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an initiative aimed at challenging Israel’s long-standing naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“We cannot tolerate that French nationals can be threatened, intimidated or brutalized in this way — all the more so by a public official,” Barrot wrote, adding that he has called on the European Union to implement collective sanctions against Ben-Gvir. Notably, the French foreign minister also made clear that Paris does not support the flotilla’s direct blockade-breaking approach, noting that the action “produces no useful effect and places an additional burden on diplomatic and consular services.”
The controversy ignited earlier this week when Ben-Gvir publicly shared a series of videos showing his interactions with detained flotilla participants, triggering widespread global outrage. The footage captures Ben-Gvir taunting bound detainees: in one clip, he waves a large Israeli flag over hunched, restrained captives; in another, he shouts the Hebrew phrase “Am Yisrael Chai” (The nation of Israel lives) at a kneeling activist with zip-tied wrists; a third clip shows dozens of detainees forced to lie face-down on the ground in an open-air pen, surrounded by armed guards as the Israeli national anthem plays.
The 50-vessel flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters approximately 400 kilometers off Israel’s coast earlier this month, with around 430 activists taken into custody. Detained participants have accused Israeli security personnel of systematic mistreatment, including beatings, the use of tasers, and deployment of attack dogs against the group.
France is not the first democratic country to move against Ben-Gvir over the incident. On Thursday, Poland announced a five-year entry ban against the minister, with Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski noting in a social post that “In the democratic world we do not abuse and gloat over people in custody.” Even within Israel’s own governing coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined other foreign leaders in condemning Ben-Gvir’s on-camera conduct toward the detainees.
The Associated Press has reached out to Ben-Gvir’s spokesperson and Netanyahu’s office for comment on the new French ban, and no response has been released publicly as of Saturday. The entry ban comes amid ongoing international scrutiny of Israeli policy toward Gaza and actions by far-right members of the Israeli cabinet, as global actors continue to track stalled negotiations over a ceasefire to end the months-long devastating conflict in the enclave.