{"id":327204,"date":"2026-05-21T05:30:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T05:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=327204"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:26:03","slug":"ben-gvir-posts-video-of-himself-taunting-bound-and-detained-gaza-flotilla-activists-sparks-global-outcry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=327204","title":{"rendered":"Ben Gvir posts video of himself taunting bound and detained Gaza flotilla activists, sparks global outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Times of Israel and Nava Freiberg \u2013 May 20, 2026<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itamarbengvir\/status\/2057046925417824697?s=20\">video<\/a> on Wednesday in which he is seen taunting activists from a Gaza flotilla intercepted by Israel, immediately sparking an international outcry.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of activists can be seen in the clip forced to kneel on the ground, with their hands tied, at an Ashdod port facility where they were being processed ahead of their likely deportation.<\/p>\n<p>Those aboard the flotilla intercepted by Israel earlier this week included Italian and Spanish nationals, whose governments said they would summon the respective Israeli ambassadors in their countries for a reprimand over Ben Gvir\u2019s behavior. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare rebuke of the far-right cabinet member he appointed, insisting that the national security minister\u2019s conduct was not in line with Israel\u2019s values.<\/p>\n<p>The video begins with a female activist shouting \u201cFree Palestine,\u201d before being grabbed by the head and shoved to the ground by officers who drag her out of Ben Gvir\u2019s way, as he tours the facility.<\/p>\n<p>The treatment of the detainees appeared akin to security forces\u2019 handling of the most severe terrorists in the prisons overseen by Ben Gvir\u2019s office, which has also prompted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/palestinians-in-israeli-jails-face-conditions-unfit-for-human-beings-state-agency-says\/\">allegations<\/a> of abuse.<\/p>\n<p>With dozens of bound activists kneeling on the ground, Ben Gvir is seen waving a large Israeli flag and shouting in Hebrew, \u201cWelcome to Israel! We are in charge here!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another shot pans through the kneeling activists, as Israel\u2019s national anthem is blasted over a loudspeaker. Ben Gvir is subsequently seen shouting \u201cAm Yisrael Chai\u201d (the nation of Israel lives) at a bound detainee trying to argue with him.<\/p>\n<p>Ben Gvir is also heard urging guards at the facility \u201cnot [to] be bothered by their screams,\u201d as a woman can be heard crying out in the background.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"rtl\" lang=\"iw\">\u05db\u05db\u05d4 \u05d0\u05e0\u05d7\u05e0\u05d5 \u05de\u05e7\u05d1\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05ea \u05ea\u05d5\u05de\u05db\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d8\u05e8\u05d5\u05e8<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to Israel \uf1ee\uf1f1 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7Hf8cAg7fC\">pic.twitter.com\/7Hf8cAg7fC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u05d0\u05d9\u05ea\u05de\u05e8 \u05d1\u05df \u05d2\u05d1\u05d9\u05e8 (@itamarbengvir) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itamarbengvir\/status\/2057046925417824697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>International furor<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the clip \u201cunacceptable,\u201d taking issue with the treatment of activists that violated their human dignity. Italy\u2019s foreign ministry said a member of the country\u2019s parliament and a journalist were among those detained.<\/p>\n<p>Meloni wrote on X that her government was taking immediate steps at the highest levels to secure the release of all Italian citizens who were detained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cItaly further demands an apology for the treatment of these demonstrators and for the utter contempt shown toward the explicit requests of the Italian government,\u201d she said, adding that Israel\u2019s ambassador in Rome would also be summoned.<\/p>\n<p>French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot tweeted that he too had summoned Israel\u2019s ambassador in Paris over the mistreatment of the French nationals aboard the flotilla.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever one thinks of this flotilla \u2014 and we have indicated on several occasions our disapproval of this initiative \u2014 our compatriots who are participating in it must be treated with respect and released as quickly as possible,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Citizens of South Korea were also among those detained by Israeli naval forces, President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday, calling Israel\u2019s actions \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/south-korea-says-israels-detention-of-flotilla-activists-way-out-of-line\/\">way out of line<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spain and Ireland also issued statements, calling out Ben Gvir\u2019s \u201cmonstrous\u201d and \u201cappalling\u201d behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Even US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration issued a rare critique, calling Ben Gvir\u2019s actions \u201cdespicable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlotilla was stupid stunt, but Ben Gvir betrayed dignity of his nation,\u201d wrote US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on X.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/ben-gvir-posts-video-of-himself-taunting-bound-and-detained-gaza-flotilla-activists\/\">Continues \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security Minister Ben Gvir sparks uproar after he tours detention facility holding international activists from the Gaza flotilla and taunts them. Even US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a staunch Zionist, was critical of Gvir<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":327206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Current_Affairs","category-Israel_Anti-Semitism_Zionism_and_US-UK_allies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327204"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327209,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327204\/revisions\/327209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/327206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}