Netanyahu speaks out after video shows minister taunting activists

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit out at his security minister after video footage showed him taunting detained activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla who had been attempting to transport aid to Gaza.

Footage released by Israel’s National Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir earlier this week had shown him berating detainees and waving a large Israeli flag as they were forced to kneel with their hands tied behind their backs.

“Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” he says in the video.

In a statement, Netanyahu said Israel had “every right” to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza.”

But he stressed that the manner in which Ben-Gvir had dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

The footage has received widespread criticism since its release, including from some senior figures inside the Israeli government.

Writing on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Ben-Gvir he had “deliberately caused damage to the state in this disgraceful performance, and not for the first time.”

“No, you are not the face of Israel,” he added.

In response, Ben-Gvir said “there are those in the government who still haven’t figured out how to behave toward supporters of terrorism.”

“Israel’s Foreign Minister is expected to understand that Israel has stopped being a pushover,” he continued. “Anyone who comes to our territory to support terrorism and identify with Hamas will get slapped, and we won’t turn the other cheek.”

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the footage “shocking and unacceptable” and reiterated calls for the release of 11 Australian nationals who were detained by Israeli forces over their part in the flotilla.

Rania Batrice, a spokesperson for the flotilla, said Ben-Gvir’s video showed the world has not held Israel to account.

“If they’re doing that to Europeans and Americans and people from South Africa and all over the world, imagine what they’re doing to the Palestinian people,” Batrice told the Associated Press in an interview.

“Strongly worded letters are not what we need right now. We need more action,” Batrice said.