Netanyahu rebukes Ben-Gvir after video shows detained flotilla activists kneeling

Itamar Ben-Gvir turned the detention of Gaza-bound flotilla activists into a public display of power, then drew a rare rebuke from Benjamin Netanyahu for crossing a line the prime minister said was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir posted the video on May 20, a day after Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla and brought the detainees to Ashdod port in southern Israel. Organizers said the mission involved 50 vessels and 428 people from 44 countries, while Israeli and wire-service reports put the number of detained activists at roughly 430. The footage showed Ben-Gvir waving an Israeli flag and telling the restrained activists, “Welcome to Israel,” as other clips showed people with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling with their heads touching the deck.

One activist shouted “Free Palestine” before being pushed to the ground. In another clip, Ben-Gvir said the activists should be jailed for a “long, long time.” The images did more than replay the interception. They projected a message from inside Israel’s government, one that fused policing, political theater, and a hard-edged response to protest at sea.

Netanyahu defended Israel’s right to stop the flotilla, but he moved quickly to distance his government from Ben-Gvir’s presentation of the detainees. The rebuke underscored a familiar fault line in Israeli politics: how far a minister can go in staging confrontation before the central government is forced to contain the fallout. In this case, the dispute was not over whether the flotilla could be halted, but over how Israel chose to show it.

The backlash spread well beyond Jerusalem. Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada summoned Israeli ambassadors or representatives, while the UK, Spain and the European Commission publicly condemned the treatment of the activists. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee added unusually sharp criticism, calling Ben-Gvir’s actions “despicable” and saying he had “betrayed the dignity of his nation.” The episode left Israel defending a maritime seizure while also trying to absorb the political cost of how that seizure was televised to the world.