A month after France barred Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering the country, now the country has banned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Bezalel Smotrich has been
banned from France, Al Arabiya quoted Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot saying in a post on X. Check for Live Updates
In May, the French foreign ministry had banned Ben-Gvir from entering the country over what it described as his “reprehensible actions” towards pro-Palestinian activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Last week, Ireland announced its decision to impose travel bans on both Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Last year, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had sanctions imposed by the UK, Australia, Norway, Canada and New Zealand for “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities,” BBC reported.
Who Is Bezalel Smotrich?
According to The Guardian, Smotrich is a messianic settler who was born in the occupied Golan Heights on born on February 27, 1980, now lives in the occupied West Bank and has repeatedly called for Israeli settlers to return to Gaza.
In 2005, he was arrested by the Shin Bet security services over his role in protests over Israel’s plans to withdraw from Gaza. He was, however, released without charges being brought.
In 2015, Smotrich won his first parliamentary seat. In 2022, as part of a coalition deal with Benjamin Netanyahu, Smotrich became finance minister.
Smotrich is a self-declared “fascist homophobe” who backed segregated maternity wards separating Jewish and Arab mothers and called for government reprisal attacks on Palestinians, The Guardian reported.
According to a recent report by The Jerusalem Post, Smotrich has proposed to the Security Cabinet that Israel should strike 20 to 30 buildings in Beirut’s Dahiyeh area for every Iranian missile launched toward Israel.
