Ireland Bars Ben-Gvir, Smotrich in Travel Ban Over Gaza Remarks
Ireland imposed a travel ban on Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday, blocking their entry if they try to enter the state. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the two ministers had backed positions that amounted to “a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine.”
Micheál Martin’s Friday decision
Jim O’Callaghan, Ireland’s justice minister, instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Ben-Gvir and Smotrich should they seek to enter the country. Martin also said the ministers’ conduct toward pro-Palestinian activists and support for policies that would displace Palestinians from their homeland drove the move.
Ben-Gvir shared video last month showing detained activists from a Gaza-bound aid flotilla kneeling on the floor, blindfolded, with their hands bound. Martin referred to that treatment on Friday, linking it to Ireland’s decision without softening his language.
EU sanctions raised in Montenegro
Martin went further and said the two Israeli ministers should also face European Union sanctions. Speaking at a summit in Montenegro, he said: “In my view, their behaviour justifies sanctions at EU level as well, and that’s something that we will raise, whether we can get sufficient support across the European Union is a different matter.”
The ministerial ban also lands in a wider diplomatic pattern. Ireland recognised the Palestinian state in 2024, and Israel closed its embassy in Dublin after that decision. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have already faced bans from Britain, Spain and Slovenia, and France barred Ben-Gvir from entry last month.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are central figures in Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, and their travel restrictions now extend beyond one European capital. Ben-Gvir became a minister in 2022 after an alliance with Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionist party, which came third in legislative elections. Smotrich has also used the phrase “kill the idea” in reference to a Palestinian state.
The immediate question is whether Ireland’s call for EU sanctions gets traction among member states after Martin said support across the European Union may prove uneven. For now, Ireland has made the restriction concrete: two senior Israeli ministers are barred from entering the country, and immigration officers have been told what to do if either arrives at the border.
