Ireland Bans Ben Gvir And Smotrich From Entering Country For Anti-Palestinian Incitement.

Dublin; June 2026: Ireland has imposed a travel ban on the two most notorious far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, over anti-Palestinian remarks and actions that “amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine”. The travel bans are being introduced by the Irish Justice Minister, Jim O’Callaghan, the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin has confirmed.

Ben-Gvir is the Israeli national security minister and Smotrich is the minister for finance.

Last month, France had announced it had banned Ben-Gvir from entry for a video mocking and taunting pro-Palestine activists as they knelt on the floor, blindfolded, with their hands bound after they were abducted by Israeli forces aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. The US, the UK, France, Italy and Canada were among the countries which expressed outrage.

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”. They were both banned from entering the UK and any assets were to be frozen. It marked the first time Israeli ministers had been sanctioned by Western governments.

The then Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir had “incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights”.

Yesterday (Friday – 05th June 2026) Irish Prime Minister Martin told the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro that the Israeli ministers’ actions and words “amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine”. He said he believes that there should be further EU measures introduced against them, Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported.

France, Spain and Italy have called on the EU to sanction Ben-Gvir. “That’s again something that the international community needs to take on board and we will be pursuing that with others”, Martin added. “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”.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Irish justice minister said the travel bans on the two Israeli ministers are in place after they were agreed by the Irish government outside of a cabinet decision this week. It added that the minister has “instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Itamar Ben-Gvir the minister for national security of Israel, and Bezalel Smotrich, the minister for finance of Israel, should they seek to enter”.

Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have repeatedly called for Israel to annexe and occupy Palestinian territories, forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, and starving the Palestinian population there, provoking condemnation from rights groups and several foreign governments.

Smotrich, who himself lives on an illegal Israeli settlement, has been a vocal advocate of Israel annexing the occupied West Bank, saying he hopes to “kill the idea” of a Palestinian state. Recently, he confirmed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was seeking an arrest warrant against him over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Team Maverick.