Arab, Islamic FMs call Ben Gvir’s taunts of flotilla activists ‘assault on human dignity’

Eight Arab and Muslim countries are latest to condemn far-right minister over video showing him taunting activists kneeling on floor with their hands tied

The foreign ministers of eight Arab and Muslim countries on Sunday strongly condemned the actions of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir toward detained activists in the Gaza-bound flotilla.

The chief diplomats of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan were the latest to condemn Ben Gvir over the incident, in which he taunted dozens of activists as they knelt on the floor with their hands bound.

In video of the incident that Ben Gvir posted online, he can be seen waving the Israeli flag and shouting in Hebrew, “Welcome to Israel! We are in charge here!”

The eight Arab and Muslim nations said in a statement: “Ben Gvir’s deliberate public humiliation of detainees is a disgraceful assault on human dignity and a clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.”

France and Poland had earlier banned Ben Gvir over the incident.

A range of Israeli politicians also criticized his behavior, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it “is not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posted on X, “You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display – and not for the first time.” And President Isaac Herzog appeared to refer to Ben Gvir in an impassioned speech in which he stressed that it must be “forbidden to abuse prisoners” no matter how terrible their crimes, saying, “We are exposed to barbaric acts by a handful of people who think that detainees, those under investigation, or suspects have no human rights whatsoever.”

Ben Gvir condemned Herzog in response to the speech, which also called settler violence “brutish.”

“A president who calls hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens brutes is not fit to be president. Full stop,” Ben Gvir wrote on X.

Some of the detainees, who were trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza while bringing in a token amount of humanitarian aid, later alleged that they were physically assaulted in detention, which the prison service denied. The approximately 430 foreign activists were deported, while one Israeli citizen has been held in custody.

Spanish police on Saturday detained four people at Bilbao airport following clashes that broke out after activists from the Gaza-bound flotilla returned home. Police were filmed hitting people with batons and dragging them across the floor, before detaining them.

Sharing a video of officers beating and detaining the activists, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said: “We demand an explanation from the Spanish government regarding its treatment of the flotilla anarchists.”