Ireland Bars Ben Gvir and Smotrich From Entry

Ireland has banned National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin announced today, Friday.

Martin spoke at the European Union summit in Montenegro and said the ministers' actions and statements "amount to a desire to see the extermination of Palestinians." He also urged the EU to impose additional sanctions on the two.

Ireland is the ninth country to bar Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering its territory, after Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Spain.

Last month, Ben Gvir released videos from the detention facility at Ashdod Port where activists from the "Sumud" flotilla were taken. "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 handcuffed on their knees with their faces pressed to the floor, while the minister waves an Israeli flag above them.

The footage, which was produced in violation of the security establishment's instructions, drew condemnations from many statesmen 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.