A controversial move by Israel’s far-right national security minister has ignited a firestorm of global condemnation after he publicly shared footage of bound Gaza-bound flotilla activists held in humiliating conditions by Israeli authorities. Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardline politician known for inflammatory rhetoric, posted the video to the social platform X this Wednesday, just hours after Israeli naval forces intercepted a convoy of activist vessels headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip and detained hundreds of international participants at Israel’s southern port of Ashdod.
The shocking footage, captioned with the provocative line “Welcome to Israel”, shows dozens of detained activists forced to kneel on the ground with their hands bound behind their backs and their foreheads pressed to the pavement. The Israeli national anthem plays over the footage in the background at multiple points, and Ben Gvir can be seen personally confronting the detained activists, heckling them while waving an Israeli flag.
The video drew immediate international backlash, and even drew criticism from top figures within Israel’s own government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly distanced himself from the minister, stating that Ben Gvir’s treatment of the detained activists ran “not in line with Israel’s values and norms”. Netanyahu added that Israeli authorities would move to deport all the detained activists “as soon as possible”. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar went even further in his rebuke, calling the incident a “disgraceful display” and accusing Ben Gvir of “knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display — and not for the first time”.
Criticism also poured in from diplomatic circles around the world. Even the United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, denounced Ben Gvir’s actions as “despicable”, writing on X that “Universal outrage & condemnation from every high-ranking Israeli official… for despicable actions by Ben Gvir. Flotilla was stupid stunt, but Ben Gvir betrayed dignity of his nation”. European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib also publicly condemned the minister, noting that “no one should be punished for defending humanity”. Both Belgium and France formally summoned their respective Israeli ambassadors to respond to what Paris called Ben Gvir’s “unacceptable actions”.
The flotilla in question, organized under the banner of the Global Sumud Flotilla, launched from Turkey last week with around 50 vessels participating. It marks the second major attempt by international activists to breach Israel’s 17-year blockade of Gaza in as many months; a similar convoy was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece last month, with most activists expelled to European countries.
Israeli officials confirmed that roughly 430 international activists were aboard the intercepted flotilla, with all transferred to Ashdod port for processing and detention. The Israeli legal rights group Adalah, which sent attorneys to the detention facility to represent the detainees, issued a statement condemning both the treatment of activists and Israel’s broader policy towards Gaza. “Israel is employing a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists seeking to confront Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people,” the group said.
By Thursday, multiple other countries had joined the chorus of condemnation, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Poland, and Turkey. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the treatment of detained civilian activists “abominable” and announced that Canada would summon the Israeli ambassador to the country to respond. Ireland’s Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said she was “appalled and shocked” by the video, and called for the immediate release of all detained activists, which include the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly.
Ben Gvir has refused to back down from his actions, doubling down in a speech to Israeli parliament. “I am proud to be the minister in charge of the organisations that operated today against those supporters of terror,” he said. “Yes, there will be all sorts of pictures that Gideon Saar does not like, but I think they are a great source of pride.”
Netanyahu had earlier framed the entire flotilla effort as “a malicious scheme designed to break the blockade we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza”. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governed Gaza before the October 2023 war and currently controls less than half of the enclave, released a statement calling the video proof of Israeli leaders’ “moral depravity and sadism”.
Israel has maintained a full land, air, and sea blockade of Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took control of the territory. The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by Hamas’ October 7 2023 attack that killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel, has led to catastrophic shortages of food, medicine, and other essential supplies in Gaza, with Israel repeatedly halting all aid deliveries into the enclave over the course of the conflict.