Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rebuke to his national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, after Ben-Gvir posted videos of himself taunting detained pro-Palestinian flotilla activists, with video captured activists bound at the wrists, their heads pressed to the floor inside what looked like a hastily arranged holding area on the vessel.
"The way that minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel's values and norms," Netanyahu said, according to The New York Times. Deportation orders for the activists were also issued by Netanyahu, who maintained that stopping the flotilla had been within Israel's rights.
Clutching a large Israeli flag in the footage, Ben-Gvir addressed the detainees with the words "Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords." In a second clip, he asked Netanyahu for permission to place the activists in "terrorist prisons" for "a long, long time," according to the Los Angeles Times. Security personnel knocked a handcuffed activist to the ground after the person was captured on video calling out "Free Palestine" in Ben-Gvir's presence.
On X $TWTR, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar turned on his cabinet colleague, declaring that Ben-Gvir had "knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display" and insisting that Ben-Gvir was "not the face of Israel," according to the Los Angeles Times. Posting to X, U.S.-based Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the episode amounted to "reckless grandstanding" that was out of step with the position of the Israeli government, according to CBS News. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said Ben-Gvir had "betrayed dignity of his nation," according to CBS News.
