A video released by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shows foreign activists abducted from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla being held in a makeshift pen in Ashdod. The activists are shown cable-tied and kneeling while Israel’s national anthem plays. The activists were abducted by Israeli forces in international waters. Several countries, including Italy and France, summoned Israeli ambassadors to demand explanations. The video also drew rebukes from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Ben-Gvir leads the far-right Jewish Power party and has been national security minister since after the 2022 elections, with control of Israel’s Border Police in the occupied West Bank. He has convictions related to incitement to racism, property destruction, and support for a banned extremist group, and he has repeatedly carried out anti-Palestinian actions, including storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound with settlers under Israeli protection.
"In a video released by his office, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir taunts zip-tied activists, prompting global condemnation. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has posted a video of himself taunting foreign activists abducted from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla at a makeshift holding pen in Israel's city of Ashdod. The activists, abducted by Israeli forces in international waters, are seen cable-tied and kneeling while Israel's national anthem blares in the video, which was released on Wednesday."
"Several countries, including Italy and France, have summoned Israeli ambassadors to explain the stunt. As well as a global backlash, the video has even been met with sharp rebukes from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and staunch ally, United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. We break down what we know so far."
"The 50-year-old lawyer and politician has led the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) party in Israel since 2019. He was sworn into the cabinet after the 2022 elections. He was later appointed as national security minister and given control of Israel's Border Police division in the occupied West Bank. A settler in Kiryat Arba, one of the most radical settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank all of which are illegal under international law."
"Ben-Gvir has convictions for incitement to racism, destroying property, possessing a terror organisation's propaganda material and supporting a terror organisation Meir Kahane's outlawed Kach group, whose founder advocated for expelling non-Jews from Israel and which Ben-Gvir joined when he was 16. He frequently carries out anti-Palestinian acts, including regularly storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City, Islam's third holiest site, alongside Israeli settlers and under the protection of Israeli forces."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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