Ben Gvir urges PM to throw flotilla activists in prison rather than deport them

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declares that Israel should throw detained flotilla activists in prison for several months, rather than deporting them back to their home countries.

More than 470 activists were detained by the Israeli Navy aboard the 42 boats that made up the Global Sumud Flotilla on Wednesday night, and the Foreign Ministry said earlier that four have already been deported, and the rest are in the middle of deportation proceedings.

Ben Gvir, who leads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, says in a video statement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was making a “mistake” by deporting them.

“I think they must be kept here for a few months in an Israeli prison, so that they get used to the smell of the terrorist wing,” he says.

He argues that Netanyahu can’t keep sending them back to their home countries, “as this makes them return again and again and again.”

החלטת ראש הממשלה לאפשר לתומכי הטרור שבמשט לחזור לארצותיהם – בטעות יסודה.

אני חושב שחייבים להשאיר אותם כמה חודשים כאן בכלא הישראלי, כדי שהם יריחו את הריח של אגף המחבלים.

הרי לא יכול להיות מצב שבו ראש הממשלה שולח אותם עוד פעם ועוד פעם ועוד פעם לארצותיהם – והשליחה הזו גורמת לכך… pic.twitter.com/2jnz04QwZ5

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) October 3, 2025