{"id":82219,"date":"2026-05-22T13:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/82219\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:18:20","slug":"eu-appalled-again-by-israel-this-time-over-ben-gvirs-gaza-flotilla-humiliation-but-continues-doing-nothing-euobserver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/82219\/","title":{"rendered":"EU \u2018appalled\u2019 (again) by Israel, this time over Ben-Gvir\u2019s Gaza flotilla humiliation, but continues doing nothing \u2013 EUobserver"},"content":{"rendered":"

The video, which extremist Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proudly published on his own social media account this week, humiliating some 400 foreign flotilla activists from 40 countries, has triggered international condemnation and outrage, even from other members of Israel\u2019s own government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notably, but not surprisingly, there has been a calculated silence from some EU leaders, especially EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the video, Ben-Gvir waves a large Israeli flag over the bound activists and heckles them, at one point stating in Hebrew: \u201cWelcome to Israel. We are the landlords.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reports a day later indicate three activists from the flotilla were hospitalised after alleged attacks by Israeli security forces and later discharged, while several others are believed to have suffered serious injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team reports systemic violations of due process, and widespread physical and psychological abuse by Israeli authorities,\u201d the rights group Adalah<\/a>, which represents some of those detained, said in a statement. There were \u201ca large number of complaints of extreme violence\u201d.<\/p>\n

EU Council president Antonio Costa said that he was \u201cappalled\u201d by the treatment of flotilla members by the Israeli minister. \u201cThis behaviour is completely unacceptable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

EU\u2019s top diplomat Kalla Kallas also described the event as \u201cunacceptable\u201d, calling on the Israeli government to comply with international law \u2013 in a short statement of just 67 words<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Silence from von der Leyen<\/p>\n

Notably absent from the chorus of main EU leaders was EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who as of writing has yet to issue a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But even the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, described Ben-Gvir\u2019s video as \u201cdespicable\u201d.<\/p>\n

For his part, Spanish PM Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a> said he would bring the issue to Brussels and try (again) to convince EU leaders to place Ben-Gvir under the EU\u2019s sanctions regime. <\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir is already banned from entering Spain.<\/p>\n

Ireland similarly expressed deep shock. \u201cThe Israeli government \u2018s actions are in breach of international law and I intend\u00a0 to raise this issue at EU level,\u201d said\u00a0 the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Miche\u00e1l Martin.<\/p>\n

At this point, the question many are asking themselves is when this endless condemnation will translate into some concrete action. <\/p>\n

The idea to punish Ben-Gvir and other members of the Israeli government is far from new. But it has never materialised.<\/p>\n

Blacklisting Israeli ministers Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have openly called for the extermination of Gaza civilians, would require unanimity, which remains unattainable due to vetoes by Israel\u2019s main EU allies \u2013 principally Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, former EU top diplomat Josep Borrell proposed<\/a> sanctions against Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for \u201chate messages against the Palestinians\u201d. But there was no appetite back then to take any measures, favouring dialogue instead.<\/p>\n

The commission officially put forward the proposal to put Ben-Gvir and Smotrich under a visa-ban and asset freeze in September 2025. This was vetoed by Hungary.<\/p>\n

In contrast, June 2025 saw the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway impose sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, accusing them of repeatedly encouraging violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to this week\u2019s already infamous video, Canadian PM Mark Carney said: \u201cThe abominable treatment of civilians aboard the flotilla, including that which is documented in footage shared by Itamar Ben-Gvir, is unacceptable\u2026 The protection of civilians and respect for human dignity must be upheld everywhere, at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The episode even touched the nerves of Austria and Italy, historically an ally of Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had already urged the Israeli side on multiple occasions in advance to exercise the utmost restraint in dealing with the aid flotilla and to comply with international law,\u201d said Austrian minister of foreign affairs, pointing out there were three people from Austria remain in custody.<\/p>\n

\u2018Total contempt\u2019<\/p>\n

But prime minister Giorgia Meloni went even further, accusing Israel of \u201ctotal contempt\u201d toward the Italian government and demanding an official apology alongside the immediate release of 29 detained Italian citizens.<\/p>\n

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani also said on X that he had requested sanctions against Ben-Gvir \u201cfor the unacceptable acts committed against the flotilla, seizing the activists in international waters and subjecting them to harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

EU ministers are expected to discuss trade measures against Israel on Friday (22 May) during a meeting in Brussels, including a potential ban on imports from Israeli settlers in the West Bank and changes to the EU-Israel trade agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For months, Italy and Germany have been blocking efforts by some EU countries, such as Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, to suspend (even if partially) the EU-Israel Association Agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If Italy were to shift its position, the political landscape in Brussels could fundamentally change, isolating Germany and opening the door for the EU to formally suspend or condition its trade deal with Israel.<\/p>\n

After years of deadlock, EU countries finally agreed to sanction violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank earlier this month \u2013 thanks to the change of government in Hungary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could this episode finally push EU countries to act?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The video, which extremist Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir proudly published on his own social media account this week,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[137],"tags":[280,22204,22201,408,406,22199,22202,407,22200,22203,403],"class_list":["post-82219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-typedefinedterm","tag-identifier4328","tag-identifier4331","tag-identifier4599","tag-nameeuobserver-voice","tag-namegaza","tag-nameisrael","tag-termcodeeuobserver-voice","tag-termcodegaza","tag-termcodeisrael","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116618428907420474","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}