Much to Israel’s detriment, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir pulled off an asinine and embarrassing stunt that never should have happened.
A video he released on May 20, in which he mocked pro-Palestinian detainees from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as they were manhandled, handcuffed and pinned down on the deck of a ship in the port of Ashdod, produced an international outcry.
The video needlessly blackened Israel at a time when its military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip had already tarnished its image. The activists, including the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, are Israel’s enemies, to be sure, but there was no need to humiliate them.
In his one-minute video, the caption of which read, “This is how we receive terror supporters,” Ben-Gvir walked past detainees who were forced to kneel. He dismissed the screams of a woman who shouted “Free Palestine” and who was shoved to the ground by masked men. And he rhetorically asked Netanyahu for permission to allow him to incarcerate the activists for a “very, very long time.”
Ben-Gvir’s intervention was nothing less than an attention-grabbing antic that produced universal condemnation.
Major Western countries, ranging from Germany and France to Britain and Australia, condemned the incident. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, described it as “despicable.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a “violation of human dignity” and “abominable.”
More to the point, the Israeli government itself singled out Ben Gvir for criticism.
“Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza,” said Netanyahu, who depends on Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party for political survival. “However, the way that Minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms. I have instructed the relevant authorities to deport the provocateurs as soon as possible.”
Posting a sharper reprimand of Ben-Gvir, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X, “You deliberately caused damage to the state with this disgraceful performance, and not for the first time … No, you are not the face of Israel.”
Ben-Gvir, an extremist, has a record of calling attention to himself. The attorney general has accused him of trying to politicize Israel’s police force. Last year, he invited a television crew into an Israeli jail and proceeded to hector Marwan Barghouti, a major Palestinian figure who is serving life sentences.
Being a shameless publicity seeker, Ben-Gvir decided to taunt the members of the misbegotten Freedom Flotilla Coalition, whose real objective is to give Israel a black eye in the court of international public opinion.
Officially, the 430 activists from some 40 countries who set off from Turkey a few days ago were attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. Unofficially, they were trying to delegitimize Israel, whose existence as a Jewish state they reject.
Not surprisingly, the flotilla was assembled by IHH, a Turkish aid group that Israel has designated as a terrorist organization. IHH organized the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla, during which nine Turkish nationals and one Turkish American were killed when Israeli commandos stormed one of the vessels. This confrontation led to a rupture in Israel’s diplomatic relations with Turkey.
In the latest incident on the high seas, Israeli commandos intercepted the flotilla in international waters and arrested the activists, whom Israelis generally believe are Hamas stooges. They were brought to Ashdod, where they were able to meet their consular representatives.
“Another PR flotilla has come to an end,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X. “This flotilla has once again proved to be nothing more than a public relations stunt at the service of Hamas. Israel will continue to act in full accordance with international law and will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.”
All of the activists, excluding Zohar Regev, reportedly an Israeli Jewish convert to Islam, were released on May 21 and flown back to Turkey on Turkish airplanes, their mission unfulfilled. But thanks to Ben-Gvir’s foolishness, they managed to land a blow against Israel.
Netanyahu should fire Ben-Gvir, a liability to Israel. But since his party has six Knesset seats, enough to keep Netanyahu in power, Ben-Gvir will very likely remain in his coalition government.