French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced today (Saturday) that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will be banned from entering the country.
He also called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Ben-Gvir. With this, France joins Poland, which yesterday announced it would not allow the Israeli minister to enter its territory.
The decision was promoted by an incident in which Ben-Gvir published footage of the flotilla participants who were detained by the Israel Navy and taken to Israel before deportation. He was filmed waving the Israeli flag in front of flotilla passengers while they were handcuffed, on their knees, and with their faces pushed to the floor.
"The summer camp is over, anyone acting against the State of Israel will face a determined country," he can be heard shouting. One of the activists shouted at him, "Free Palestine", and was held to the floor by Israel Prison Service (IPS) personnel.
24 countries condemned Israel following the minister's action: the United States, thethe United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Romania, Slovenia, Latvia, Austria, Slovakia, Cyprus, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Turkey, Germany, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and Greece. The incident also drew widespread condemnation within Israel, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu and including numerous other senior officials.