Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister over ‘shocking and unacceptable’ treatment of flotilla activists
NEWS | 21 May 2026
Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has condemned the actions of a far-right Israeli minister who posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured while trying to sail an aid flotilla to Gaza. Wong joined international condemnation of the footage, which shows Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waving an Israeli flag and mocking and taunting the detainees. Among the flotilla detainees were 11 Australian activists who were taken into custody by Israeli forces off the coast of Cyprus earlier this week. It was not known if they were present in Ben-Gvir’s video. Among the Australians is Zack Schofield, whose mother, Joanne Jaworowski, said on Thursday that Zack had committed to a hunger strike. “That makes their release even more urgent,” she said. “This vile conduct toward my son and all the unarmed humanitarian aid workers is unbearable to watch.” In a statement, Wong said: “The images we have seen are shocking and unacceptable.” “We condemn the actions of Israeli minister Ben-Gvir – who Australia has sanctioned – and the degrading actions of Israeli authorities towards those detained,” Wong said on Thursday. “I have asked Australia’s ambassador to Israel to make representations to Israel, reiterating our call for the release of the detained Australians and for Israel to ensure no ill treatment of any detainees and to act in line with international obligations.” In a post on social media, Wong added: “I have also directed Dfat [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] to call in Israel’s ambassador to Australia [Hillel Newman] to reinforce this message.” In the video, dozens of men and women are seen kneeling in rows, with their foreheads to the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their backs. Ben-Gvir waved an Israeli flag and shouted “welcome to Israel, we are the landlords”. “I tell prime minister Netanhyahu give them to me for much more time. Give them to us for the terrorists’ prisons,” the minister said. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry “condemned … Ben-Gvir for his humiliating and disgraceful treatment of a group of overseas anti-Israel activists who had been detained in Israel after attempting to break the blockade”. “Nothing can excuse the appalling behaviour,” the ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said. He argued the group had been engaged in “provocative action that would benefit Hamas” but said that did “not in any way justify their mistreatment”. The Jewish Council of Australia said Australia should go further than sanctions against Ben-Gvir – imposed in 2025 for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank – and impose country-level sanctions and expel Israel’s ambassador. Bart Shteinman, the council’s executive officer, said the footage was “a stomach-turning display of cruelty that flies in the face of human dignity”. “Forcing humanitarian volunteers onto their knees while bound and subjected to psychological torment is completely indefensible,” Shteinman said. “We stand in solidarity with these courageous activists, including Jewish Australian Annie Mokotow, who risked their safety to challenge the illegal maritime blockade and highlight the horrific deprivation in Gaza.” On Thursday morning, the head of the flotilla’s Australian delegation, Simon Jones, called on the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to join that international condemnation. Jones said the government could send Newman home. “Our reaction to watching healthy, bright, brave, peaceful humanitarians being harmed in real time pales beside our concern for what occurs off camera,” he said. Rights group Adalah has reported “systemic violations of due process and widespread physical and psychological abuse by Israeli authorities”. Adalah reported dozens of people with suspected broken ribs, while three activists were taken to hospital before being released. The group alleged women had hijabs ripped off, and there was “extreme violence” on flotilla vessels and during the transfer to port, as well as sexual harassment and humiliation. A lawyer for the Australians, Bernadette Zaydan, said their families were still in the dark about their loved ones’ welfare and any potential injuries. The activists were due to appear before a tribunal. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, described Ben-Gvir’s behaviour as “despicable” and said the minister had “betrayed the dignity of his nation” after the video was published on his social media account with the caption: “Welcome to Israel.” The Israeli ambassador to the US claimed Ben-Gvir’s “reckless grandstanding” was not representative of government policy. “Ben-Gvir’s antics take a sledgehammer to our diplomatic efforts while Israel’s enemies gleefully jump on every unfortunate nonsense to discredit and demonise,” ambassador Yechiel Leiter said. 1:03 Israeli minister Ben-Gvir posts video taunting detained Gaza flotilla activists – video The detained Australians are academics, doctors, students, activists and film-makers, including Dr Bianca Pullman-Webb, Neve O’Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O’Toole, Sam Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O’Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla Lamont and Surya McEwan and Mokotow. On Tuesday, four of their parents and loved ones held a press conference in Melbourne where O’Toole’s mother, Suzie O’Toole, said she was “terrified” for the 23-year-old’s wellbeing. The Australian government was seeking to meet the detainees. Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, raised concerns about Israel’s actions. He said that while a naval blockade was a legitimate naval warfare act during an armed conflict, there was “no legal basis under international law” for Israel to enforce a blockade off the coast of Cyprus. He said this was because there was no international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, despite Israel’s position that a blockade was legitimate due to the threat posed by Hamas. “The IDF conduct is an example of extraterritorial law enforcement of Israel’s blockade within the maritime zone of Cyprus or on the high seas, which is a violation of the freedom of navigation which the vessels that make up the Global Sumud Flotilla enjoy,” Rothwell said. “For Australia, interference with the freedom of navigation has been a constant concern in the South China Sea, and more recently in the Strait of Hormuz. It should likewise be a cause for concern in the Mediterranean.” Rothwell noted that, under international law, an exception to a blockade exists for the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the blockaded state. Australian flotilla spokesperson Subhi Awad pushed back at Israel’s claim that the flotilla was not intending to deliver aid to Gaza. “The flotilla did obtain, load and carry aid. We recorded ourselves doing so,” he said.
Author: Ben Doherty. Josh Butler. Tory Shepherd.
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