{"id":8102,"date":"2026-05-20T15:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8102"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:02:16","slug":"israeli-security-minister-releases-videos-taunting-detained-flotilla-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8102","title":{"rendered":"Israeli security minister releases videos taunting detained flotilla activists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By NATALIE MELZER and MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS<\/strong><\/p>\n

JERUSALEM (AP) \u2014 Detained activists from a\u00a0flotilla\u00a0that tried to get past the Israeli blockade of Gaza arrived Wednesday in Israel where the national security minister released videos taunting them and saying they should be imprisoned for a very long time.<\/p>\n

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The videos showing National Security Minister\u00a0Itamar Ben-Gvir\u00a0walking among some of the approximately 430 detainees after their arrival on navy ships drew a backlash abroad and in Israel, where a fellow government minister called them inappropriate and \u201cdisgraceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

One video shows activists with their hands tied behind their backs kneeling with their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area at Ashdod port and on the deck of a ship.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir waves a large Israeli flag and tells the detainees: \u201cWelcome to Israel, we are the landlords.\u201d One handcuffed activist shown in the video shouting \u201cFree Palestine\u201d as Ben-Gvir was walking past was immediately pushed to the ground by security personnel.<\/p>\n

In a second video, Ben-Gvir says the activists \u201ccame here all full of pride like big heroes. Look at them now,\u201d while appealing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to grant him permission to imprison them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say to Prime Minister Netanyahu, give them to me for a long, long time, give them to us for the terrorist prisons, that\u2019s what it should look like,\u201d Ben-Gvir said.<\/p>\n

Ben-Gvir\u2019s remarks triggered a backlash even among his fellow government ministers. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar publicly chastised Ben-Gvir, posting on X that \u201cyou knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display\u201d and that he had \u201cundone tremendous, professional and successful efforts made by so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo, you are not the face of Israel,\u201d Sa\u2019ar wrote.<\/p>\n

An Israel-based legal advocacy group, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, accused Israeli authorities of \u201cemploying a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adalah said in a statement that this followed similar patterns of ill-treatment by Israeli authorities against activists in previous flotilla missions \u201cfor which Israel faced zero accountability.\u201d The group said that its lawyers and other volunteers were providing legal advice to activists at Ashdod and were demanding their immediate release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community must take urgent measures to protect the flotilla members against this brutal and illegal conduct by Israeli officials,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

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Flotilla organizers have said the activists are from more than 40 different countries across the globe.<\/p>\n

Italy strongly condemned the detained activists\u2019 treatment as a violation of human dignity and called images involving Ben-Gvir \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Italian government said it\u2019s taking urgent action at the top official levels to secure the speedy release of Italian citizens among the detainees and is demanding an official apology for what it said was Israel\u2019s disregard of explicit requests. The country\u2019 Foreign Ministry said it would summon the Israeli ambassador to seek formal clarification over the incident.<\/p>\n

Hamas called out Ben-Gvir for the \u201cscenes of abuse and humiliation\u201d of the activists, describing it as an expression of Israel\u2019s \u201cmoral decadence and sadism.\u201d<\/p>\n

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