Israeli Ambassador defends interception, condemns Ben Gvir
'That's not the approach of the government of Israel. It's not the policy of the government of Israel. It doesn't reflect the values of the State of Israel'
Israel’s Ambassador to Australia has condemned National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s treatment of Gaza flotilla detainees as “disgraceful” while defending the interception itself as legally justified and conducted with “great sensitivity”.
Ambassador Hillel Newman told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Thursday there is “no big gap between Israel and Australia” on the incident because Israeli leaders have condemned Ben Gvir’s actions “from wall to wall”.
“The leadership of Israel has condemned what he did. It’s disgraceful. That’s not the approach of the government of Israel. It’s not the policy of the government of Israel. It doesn’t reflect the values of the state of Israel,” Newman said.
“This humiliation, which was done by Ben Gvir after [the flotilla] already reached safe ground, was not to be done.”
Ben Gvir filmed himself at an Ashdod port facility waving an Israeli flag and shouting “Welcome to Israel! We are in charge here!” at dozens of bound activists forced to kneel on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.
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