Updated ,first published
Israel’s ambassador to Australia has been hauled before the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to reinforce the government’s displeasure with a video of Israel’s national security minister taunting detained flotilla activists, Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said.
In a Thursday morning statement, Wong said the provocative video of Itamar Ben-Gvir was “shocking and unacceptable” and that Australia’s ambassador to Israel had made Labor’s frustrations clear to the Israeli government.
“The images we have seen posted by Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir – who Australia has sanctioned – are shocking and unacceptable. We condemn his actions and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained,” Wong said.
The government has called for all detained Australians travelling on the Global Sumud Flotilla to be released and for Israel to comply with international obligations to treat detainees respectfully.
This is the second time Israel’s ambassador to Australia has been called in, after the previous ambassador Amir Maimon was summoned amid accusations of starvation and famine-like conditions in Gaza last July. The new ambassador, Hillel Newman, met with DFAT officials around 3pm on Thursday afternoon.
The Israeli embassy in Canberra was contacted for comment.
The video depicted Ben-Gvir taunting detained activists who tried to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and telling them they should face lengthy imprisonment. It was condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, triggering international backlash.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among the most vocal critics, calling the behaviour a “violation of human dignity” and summoning Israel’s ambassador to Rome. The US ambassador to Israel and strong supporter of the nation’s settler movement, Mike Huckabee, called Ben-Gvir’s actions “despicable”, saying he had “betrayed the dignity of his nation”.
Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters”, the way Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms”. The message was echoed by the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Zionist Federation of Australia.
Ben-Gvir was filmed walking among some of the approximately 430 detained activists, a group that includes 11 Australians. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area and on the deck of a ship.
“Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” says Ben-Gvir, waving a large Israeli flag. One handcuffed activist shouts “free Palestine” and is immediately pushed to the ground by security personnel as Ben-Gvir walks by.
In another video, Ben-Gvir says the activists “came here all full of pride like big heroes. Look at them now”, while appealing to Netanyahu to grant him permission to imprison them.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly chastised Ben-Gvir on X, saying: “You knowingly caused harm to our State in this disgraceful display … you are not the face of Israel”.
Australian flotilla spokespeople confirmed that no Australians, who are being held in the Ketziot Prison, were visible in the videos.
Australians Neve O’Connor, Sam Woripa Watson, Anny Mokotow, Isla Lamont, Juliet Lamont, Surya McEwen, Zack Schofield, Bianca Webb-Pullman, Gemma O’Toole, Violet Coco and Helen O’Sullivan were all detained by Israel earlier this week.
Flotilla organisers and DFAT were yet to speak to the Australians on Thursday morning, but were expected to contact them later in the day.
“The legal team is in constant communication with DFAT, but unfortunately, both the legal team and the Australian family members, we’re still in the dark,” Bernadette Zaydan, a lawyer representing the majority of the Australian participants, said.
“We know that there are some serious injuries that have been sustained by some of the participants, but we don’t know if any Australians were affected.”
Netanyahu has given instructions for the activists to be deported “as soon as possible”,
The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights In Israel accused the nation’s authorities of “employing a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists”, arguing that Israel had faced “zero accountability” for its actions against subsequent flotilla missions.
Flotilla organisers claimed Israeli soldiers fired on five boats during their interception, causing some damage. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said no live ammunition was fired and that “non-lethal means” were aimed at the vessels as a warning, but without targeting or injuring protesters.
Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla, which set off from Turkey last week, about 268 kilometres off the Gaza coastline, according to the flotilla’s website.
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
Bronte Gossling is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAtoday and Brisbane Times.Connect via email.