International outrage is continuing to mount over Israeli authorities’ degrading and abusive treatment of pro-Palestinian activists who were part of an aid flotilla bound for Gaza. |
The flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces earlier this week while sailing in international waters off Cyprus and the activists were detained in a makeshift holding pen in Ashdod, on Israel’s coast. A human rights group representing the detainees said they had been physically and sexually abused during their detention, and that several had to be treated for injuries resulting from the use of rubber bullets and tasers by Israel security forces during the operation to intercept the flotilla. |
The activists can be seen in a video, posted to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s X account, kneeling with their hands zip-tied and their faces to the ground. Ben-Gvir can be heard taunting them: “Welcome to Israel. We are the landlords here; that is how it should be.” |
The leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”) party, Ben-Gvir has long been known in Israel for his open racism toward Palestinians. He has been sanctioned by multiple countries, including the U.K., Canada and Australia, for “inciting extremist violence.” Until a few years ago, he kept a framed photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, a mass murderer who gunned down 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron in 1994. |
Since 2022, he has served in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet as national security minister, a position that gives him control over Israeli police forces. |
As Le Monde pointed out in its coverage, videos like the one Ben-Gvir posted this week are part of his cruel schtick. He often shares footage of himself humiliating Palestinian detainees and prisoners. But this time, because the detainees are activists from Western countries, he has provoked an international incident. |
At least seven governments have summoned the Israeli ambassador in their respective countries to protest the activists’ treatment. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the actions of Israeli security forces were “abominable.” Ben-Gvir’s conduct prompted a rare public rebuke from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and even from Netanyahu himself. |
The incident has prompted an especially fierce reaction from European countries whose citizens participated in the flotilla. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, historically a strong supporter of Israel within the European Union, didn’t mince her words. “It is intolerable that these protesters, among whom there are many Italian citizens, are subjected to this treatment, which violates human dignity,” she said, demanding an apology from Israel. |
As I wrote last month, Europe has already been in the process of reevaluating its relationship with Israel. Several EU member states are pushing for the bloc to suspend an agreement that grants special trade privileges to Israel, citing the ongoing de facto annexation of the West Bank, rampant settler violence against Palestinians, and the genocide in Gaza. Germany and Italy declined to support the measure, but their governments are coming under pressure to take action as opinion polls show a sharp negative swing against Israel in recent years. |
Should Brussels decide to impose punitive economic measures against Israel for its human rights abuses, it would be a body blow for Israel’s already weak economy, which counts the EU as its largest trading partner. In this context, the video Ben-Gvir posted is a self-inflicted wound, as it only inflames tensions with European governments that Israel needs to stay on good terms with. |