ERBIL, Kurdistan of Iraq - Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday sparked both international and domestic outrage after posting footage of himself mocking and harassing blindfolded Gaza-bound aid flotilla activists detained in Israel, with top Israeli officials heavily criticizing his conduct.

Captioned “Welcome to Israel,” the video shows scenes of physical abuse against activists, whom he labels “terrorism supporters,” while others are bound and forced to kneel. In the footage, he declares, “Welcome to Israel — we are the ones in charge here,” and adds, “I say to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu: leave them to me for a long, long time. Send them to terrorist prisons. That’s how it should be.”

A political storm has hit Israel after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shared a video of him taunting Global Sumud Flotilla detainees as they are bound and kept on the floor, drawing criticism from both the Israeli foreign ministry and European governments pic.twitter.com/VUSqdhvtFN

— The New Region (@thenewregion) May 20, 2026

The attack against Global Sumud Flotilla vessels started on Monday morning, when Israeli forces intercepted the fleet in international waters west of Cyprus, about 460 kilometers from the coast of Gaza. By Tuesday evening, all the boats had been intercepted, with one managing to get within 80 nautical miles of the Palestinian territory, according to the mission’s organizers.

Despite the agreements stating that waters up to 12 nautical miles offshore should be under Palestinian control, the Israeli navy maintains a constant patrol of the area. Israel's official naval blockade, which is deemed illegal under international law, extends 20 miles out, yet military vessels frequently intercept boats long before they even reach territorial waters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded his naval forces in unambiguous terms, stating, “You are doing an exceptional job. You are thwarting a wicked plan intended to break the isolation we are imposing on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.”

The toll of activists illegally arrested by Israeli forces now stands at 430, all of whom were transported to the port of Ashdod. They join an additional 180 activists who were intercepted and arrested in a previous raid.

Domestic political outrage

Coinciding with the launch of Israel’s election season, Ben-Gvir’s video has fueled a domestic debate that was interpreted in some quarters as political maneuvering for the autumn elections than a critique of the activists' degrading treatment.

“You knowingly caused harm to our state in this disgraceful display — and not for the first time,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X in response to the video, telling Ben-Gvir: “No, you are not the face of Israel.”

His actions also drew rare criticism from Netanyahu himself, who said they were "not in line with Israel's values".

Democratic Party leader Yair Golan slammed Ben-Gvir as a “criminal and a strategic liability to the State of Israel,” accusing the minister of prioritizing optics over national interest.

“He is producing yet another election video, another provocation, and another embarrassment,” Golan said, adding, “This coalition knows its end is near."

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who recently announced a new joint coalition with opposition leader Yair Lapid ahead of the elections, labeled Ben-Gvir “a failed minister who sold out Israel's security for likes on TikTok.”

“The damage I described today was carried out by Ben-Gvir, but the one responsible for this grave assault on our interests is the Prime Minister who brought a convicted criminal into the government—along with anyone who agreed to partner with a man so utterly lacking in responsibility,” Lapid wrote in a sharp post on X.

Global outrage

Hamas on Wednesday condemned “the scenes of torture and humiliation” shown in the footage as “an expression of the moral depravity and sadism that govern the mentality of the leaders of the criminal enemy entity,” labeling Ben-Gvir as a “criminal, fascist Zionist minister.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani deemed the images as “unacceptable,” saying they immediately summoned the Israeli ambassador to request formal clarifications on what had occurred and demanded the relase of Italian nationals.

“It is inadmissible that these demonstrators, including many Italian citizens, are subjected to this treatment that violates human dignity. Italy further demands an apology for the treatment reserved to these demonstrators and for the total contempt shown toward the explicit requests of the Italian Government.”

Other countries as Ireland, the UK, Spain, and Canada echoed the criticism against Ben-Gvir.

A day earlier, the United States announced it had imposed sanctions on four activists involved in Flotilla missions. Without releasing any supporting evidence, Washington charged the flotilla organizers with attempting to reach Palestinian territory in order to aid Hamas.

Last month, a similar move was announced by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said that he had “imposed sanctions” to the fundraising operations of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The move is “intended to deter donors from contributing to a terror organization,” Katz said, claiming that the movement is “organized by the Hamas terror organization, in cooperation with additional international organizations and under the guise of a humanitarian aid flotilla.”

Similar allegations of Hamas affiliation were leveled by Israel last September during the first Sumud mission but were largely debunked by independent observers.