Israeli minister's taunting of activists no surprise to those following his career

Since the start of this week, the Israeli government has used every one of its platforms to denounce the activists on board the Global Sumud Flotilla as "provocateurs" engaging in a stunt, as they tried and failed to break its almost two-decade-long maritime blockade of Gaza.

It's somewhat ironic that a stunt from within its own ranks, described as "despicable" by the US ambassador to Israel, is now giving those activists video evidence of the very thing they accuse Israel of: engaging in cruel and dehumanising practices.

Although perhaps it was inevitable.

For anyone who takes even a glimpse at Itamar Ben-Gvir's behaviour, nothing about his actions toward the activists is out of character.

World leaders have lashed the Israeli national security minister for a video taunting some of the more than 400 activists the Israeli military brought to the country's Ashdod Port, after detaining them in international waters.

"I think all Australians are appalled to see that footage of an Israeli government minister treating Australians, who are currently in detention in Israel, with such demeaning conduct," Australian environment minister Murray Watt said today.

The condemnation has come from within the Israeli government's own ranks, too, including no less than Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

But it's the Israeli prime minister who has allowed this behaviour to percolate — after all, he handed responsibility for the nation's police and prison services to a man with multiple criminal convictions, including support for a terrorist organisation, to shore up his own political standing.

History of controversial behaviour

To give you a sense of the man and his ideology, you only have to look at his recent 50th birthday celebrations.

At the party in early May, Ben-Gvir's wife, Ayala, presented him with a cake.

It was adorned with a picture of a hangman's noose.

The image was a reference to legislation he had championed imposing the death penalty on Palestinians, and only Palestinians, convicted of attacks through Israel's military court system, which is where Palestinians in places like the West Bank are tried. It's been widely condemned by lawyers and human rights monitors as establishing an apartheid legal system.

In the months leading up to that bill passing, Ben-Gvir had co-opted the yellow ribbon symbol used by the families of Israeli hostages from Hamas's October 7 attacks — wearing a yellow lapel pin also in the shape of a noose.

In keeping with the theme of berating detainees and prisoners, last August, he posted a video berating Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti inside his Israeli jail cell — the first time the man had been seen in years.

He reportedly kept in his home a framed portrait of Baruch Goldstein, the American-Israeli who massacred 29 Palestinians inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, one of the holiest sites for Muslims and Jews, in 1994.

Ben-Gvir has used his power as minister responsible for police to effectively tear up the "status quo" rules in Jerusalem's Old City, which ban Jewish prayer in the Al-Aqsa Temple Mount compound. It's a deeply provocative move, further inflaming tensions in the ancient city.

Jews believe it is the site of the great temple, destroyed by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. But it's currently home to the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and worship is restricted to only Muslims.

Ben-Gvir quit the cabinet in January 2025 in protest over a ceasefire deal in Gaza, insisting that the bombing of the strip should not only continue but intensify. He rejoined a few months later, when the fragile truce fell apart, and the Israeli strikes resumed.

'Jewish Power' party helping Netanyahu's coalition

Ben-Gvir is the leader of Otzma Yehudit, which translates to "Jewish Power". It's one of the far-right parties in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, which Israeli political commentators often refer to as the most right-wing government in the State of Israel's 78-year history.

To describe the party as "anti-Arab" downplays it.

Like many others in the movement, Ben-Gvir is a settler. He lives in a settlement, deemed illegal under international law, alongside the Palestinian city of Hebron.

He has been sanctioned by countries including Australia, alongside fellow far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich (who is the leader of another far-right party in the Netanyahu coalition), for inciting violence against Palestinians and promoting their displacement.

That's just some of his back catalogue. So it's hard to be surprised at this latest development. It might have been more surprising if he had not appeared at Ashdod port to welcome the activists.

Some of Israel's most strident supporters will ask "so what" about Ben-Gvir's actions and point to the abuses of groups such as Hamas in Gaza.

They're crimes that do deserve attention, and receive it.

But in this instance, even Israel's promoter-in-chief, Netanyahu, has called out his minister's conduct.

And for a country that portrays itself as an oasis of liberal democratic ideals in a desert of authoritarian and oppressive regimes, it is impossible to let Ben-Gvir's conduct slide.

Criticism likely to strengthen Ben-Gvir's resolve 

What's different this time around is that he has been seen in a video taunting foreigners, prompting the outrage of countries furious at the treatment of their citizens.

While the world's condemnation of his treatment of Palestinians has been voiced, it hasn't always been as loud and in unison.

At the end of the day, the criticism doesn't necessarily weaken Itamar Ben-Gvir's resolve. If anything, it strengthens it. And it's the type of behaviour his supporters both endorse and expect.

"The days of our country being a punching bag are over," Ben-Gvir told the Israeli parliament hours after the video was posted and the outcry began.

"The days when terrorists want to hurt us, and we had to be apologetic, nice and understanding, are over."

In the lead-up to an election in Israel, the minister may face a slap on the wrist from the government over this incident.

But the government exists, at least in part, because of him and it allows him to act as he does.