Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at a port where Israel detained hundreds of participants from an international aid flotilla attempting to breach the naval blockade of Gaza. In a posted video, activists were shown forced to kneel in rows with heads on the ground and hands bound with zip ties while Israel’s national anthem played. Ben-Gvir waved an Israeli flag and shouted a taunt. Foreign governments reacted quickly and condemned the conduct as violating basic standards of respect and dignity, with several summoning Israeli ambassadors for formal censure. The US ambassador to Israel also condemned the actions, while Israel’s own government criticized Ben-Gvir’s behavior as not aligned with national values and norms.
"On Wednesday morning, Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at the port where Israel had detained hundreds of participants in an international aid flotilla that was attempting to breach the naval blockade of Gaza. In a video he posted to social media, the minister can be seen mocking the activists as they are forced to kneel in rows with their heads on the ground and hands bound with zip ties. Israel's national anthem can be heard blasting over loudspeakers, before we see Ben-Gvir waving an Israeli flag and shouting: Welcome to Israel. We are the landlords here."
"The international reaction was swift and unequivocal including from Britain's foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, who said she was truly appalled at the video, and that it violates the most basic standards of respect and dignity in the way people should be treated. Representatives of the French, Italian, Canadian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Greek, Irish, Australian and New Zealand governments joined the chorus, with some of them additionally summoning their respective Israeli ambassadors for formal censure."
"Even the Trump administration voiced its condemnation, with the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, asserting that Ben-Gvir had betrayed [the] dignity of his nation. Many of those speaking out, including Huckabee, consoled themselves with the fact that Ben-Gvir's actions were denounced by his own government. While describing the flotilla activists as Hamas terrorist supporters, Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that the national security minister's stunt was not in line with Israel's values and norms."
"Gideon Saar, Israel's foreign minister, went further. You knowingly caused harm to our"
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