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France banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from its territory Saturday and joined Italy in calling for EU-level sanctions, after Ben-Gvir posted a video showing himself taunting detained Gaza flotilla activists at Ashdod Port while Israeli forces kept them kneeling with hands bound and foreheads to the ground.
"From today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.
"This decision follows his reprehensible actions towards French and European citizens who were passengers of the Global Sumud flotilla. Along with my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to also take sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir," Barrot said.
Barrot said France disapproved of the flotilla's approach, which he said produced no useful results and burdened diplomatic and consular services. But he said Paris could not tolerate French nationals being "threatened, intimidated or brutalized, especially by a public official."
He noted that Ben-Gvir's actions had been condemned by a large number of Israeli government and political figures, and said they followed "a long list of shocking statements and actions, incitements to hatred and violence against Palestinians."
The video, captioned "Welcome to Israel" and posted on X, showed rows of flotilla activists forced to kneel face down with their hands cuffed behind their backs and foreheads to the ground while the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, played from speakers.
Ben-Gvir can be seen waving an Israeli flag and taunting the detainees. At one point, he is heard saying, "That's how it should be done" as Israeli police forcibly pushed a female activist to the ground after she shouted "Free Palestine."
He posted separately: "This is how we welcome terror supporters. Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords."
Ben-Gvir, 50, leads the Jewish Power party and has served as national security minister since 2022, when an alliance with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist party came third in legislative elections.
He lives in a radical settlement in the occupied West Bank, advocates annexation of the territory, and has called for the forcible transfer of some Arab Israelis to neighboring countries.
In his youth, he faced more than 50 charges for incitement to violence or hate speech, and later studied law on the recommendation of judges.
He has long associated himself with the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane and once displayed a portrait of Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Palestinian worshippers at a mosque in Hebron in 1994, in his home.
He removed the portrait as he entered politics. Haaretz columnist Ravit Hecht has described Ben-Gvir as having "managed to transform himself from a marginal thug into a shaper of right-wing ideology."
Rights groups and journalists say the flotilla footage is consistent with a broader pattern. During Ben-Gvir's time in office, reports of violence, including rape, extreme hunger, and humiliation in Israeli detention facilities have multiplied.
Rights groups have described Israeli detention centers as "torture camps."
Israeli data shows at least 98 Palestinians have died in custody since October 2023, including a 17-year-old probably killed by starvation. Israel's Supreme Court has repeatedly ordered the government to end the food deprivation of Palestinian prisoners.
Ben-Gvir has boasted of presiding over a "prison revolution," telling lawmakers in 2024: "I am proud that we have changed all of the conditions."
He has repeatedly shared footage of prison visits in which he showcases or participates in the abuse of Palestinian detainees.
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