Rome Prosecutors Investigate Israel's Security Minister Ben Gvir Over Torture Allegations

The starting point of the investigation is a video that Ben Gvir himself had published via his social media profiles. It shows him taunting kneeling activists with their hands tied behind their backs in the port of Ashdod. Video footage showing the activists kneeling and bound while being insulted by Ben Gvir triggered international criticism. Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke of a «Trattamento incivile per gli attivisti, che tocca un livello infimo».

The complaints are based on the statements of the affected activists, including the Italian Saif Abukeshek Abdelrahim, who according to his own account was aboard the «Eros1» in international waters off the island of Crete on April 29, 2024, when the boat was approached at night by a military vehicle of the Israeli army. Unidentified military personnel forcibly removed Abukeshek and other crew members from the vessel, according to the complaint. The activists also reported that they had been forced to lift their shirts to be photographed: «Ci facevano alzare la maglietta per fotografarci e divertirsi».

Legal Steps and Requests for Mutual Legal Assistance

In addition to Abukeshek, complaints regarding the individuals Thiago de Avila and Saif Abukeshek Abdelrahim are also the subject of the investigation. According to the findings, both were intercepted by Israeli security forces while aboard two boats sailing under the Italian flag, held for several days in an Israeli prison, and subsequently deported. The incidents form part of a series of flotilla stopovers by Israeli armed forces: on April 29, 2024, 22 boats were boarded, and further boardings occurred in October 2024.

In recent weeks, the Rome prosecutors' office had applied to the Italian Ministry of Justice to transmit, via the office in Via Arenula, a request for mutual legal assistance to Israel. The request is intended to obtain information on the procedures applied and on the chain of command that ordered the operation. A corresponding request will be forwarded directly by the Procura di Roma after communication with the offices in Via Arenula, as stated in the letter: «Una richiesta verrà inoltrata direttamente dalla Procura di Roma dopo una comunicazione intercorsa con gli uffici di via Arenula».

The Italian spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla, Maria Elena Delia, expressly welcomed the investigation. «E' sacrosanto che ci sia un'indagine a carico di Ben Gvir», she said. At the same time, she recalled that Ben Gvir is a minister in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an expression of what she described as a Zionist system: «non dobbiamo dimenticare che si tratta di un ministro del governo Netanyahu, espressione di un sistema sionista di quel governo».

Political Reactions in Italy and the EU

In parallel with the Rome investigation, the French national anti-terrorism prosecutors' office (Pnat) has opened a formal investigation against Ben Gvir, examining the offenses of torture and war crimes. The topic is also on the political agenda: on Monday, June 15, the foreign ministers of the European Union will meet in Luxembourg to discuss sanctions options proposed by High Representative Kaja Kallas. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had called for sanctions against Israel in recent weeks.

Further Investigations in Europe

The complaints on which the investigations are based include at least three criminal complaints as well as witness statements submitted in recent days by the activists' lawyers. Also notable are reports that the Israeli armed forces allegedly jammed the flotilla's radio communications with the song «Oops, I did it again» by Britney Spears. The Rome investigation complements two already ongoing proceedings that likewise concern flotilla missions involving boardings by Israeli security forces in April and October 2024.

With his entry in the register of suspects, Ben Gvir is now officially a suspect in Italy. The Italian authorities are thus examining the possibility of investigating a sitting minister of another state for serious human rights violations – a step that carries political weight given the ongoing diplomatic debate over relations between the EU and Israel.