Following Poland, France has banned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering the country since May 23 due to the humiliating treatment of activists who were on board the Global Smud flotilla, which was detained by Israeli authorities. This was announced by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
“As of today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory. The decision was made due to his unacceptable actions against French and European citizens who were on board the Global Smud flotilla,” he wrote in X.
Barrot noted that France condemns the flotilla’s actions, which “do not yield any useful result” and create an excessive burden on diplomatic and consular services.
“However, we will not tolerate French citizens being threatened, intimidated or treated in this way, especially by a public official. I note that these actions have been condemned by a large number of Israeli government and political figures. They are the continuation of a long list of shocking statements and actions, calls for hatred and violence against Palestinians,” Barrot stressed.
He added that, like Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, he would ask the EU to impose sanctions against Ben-Gwir.
On May 22, Ben-Gwir was banned from entering Poland for five years for his humiliating treatment of activists, including citizens Poland.
On May 20, Ben-Gvir released a video showing several dozen activists kneeling on the ground, while the minister waves an Israeli flag and shouts in Hebrew: “Welcome to Israel, we rule here.”
