Italy Opens Probe Into Minister Ben Gvir Over Treatment of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Italy has opened an investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on suspicion of involvement in the way activists who took part in last month’s Gaza flotilla were treated, a legal source told Reuters on Monday evening.

On Friday, Ireland barred National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory. Ireland is the ninth country to bar Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering, after Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Spain.

The move followed Ben Gvir’s release last month of videos from the detention facility at Ashdod Port, where activists from the “Sumud” flotilla were brought. “They came with a lot of pride, like big heroes, look how they look now,” the minister says in one of the recordings, in which the activists are seen kneeling, handcuffed, with their faces pressed to the floor, while the minister waves an Israeli flag over them.

The footage, which was produced against the judgment of the security establishment, drew condemnation from many politicians around the world. After it was published, Israeli ambassadors in many countries were summoned for reprimands. Politicians in Israel also criticized the minister, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

More on this topic, exposure: This is how Minister Ben Gvir hides crime data from the public This is how Ben Gvir boarded an Israeli navy vessel carrying flotilla activists