Herzog: 'We will not allow our society to be brutalised'. Ben Gvir: unworthy to be president

"A terrible process of despondency is creeping into the margins of Israeli society. It is a slow and worrying process that threatens to become an integral part of Israeli society, and we will not allow it'. This was stated by Israeli President Itzhak Herzog during the ceremony to award the 'Jerusalem Unity Prize 2026'. "There are fringes of our society that have normalised violence and, unfortunately, there are those who celebrate it and boast about it," Herzog added, referring to the "terrible wave of violence perpetrated by lawless gangs" in the West Bank and acts of desecration of Christian and Muslim symbols, as well as "brutal acts perpetrated by a handful of people who think that detainees, interrogators or suspects have no human rights".

Il presidente israeliano Itzhak Herzog: «Un terribile processo di abbrutimento si sta insinuando ai margini della società israeliana». Il ministro della Sicurezza Nazionale israeliana Itamar Ben Gvir: «Herzog è indegno di essere presidente»

"Red lines must be drawn: it is forbidden to mistreat prisoners, however despicable they may be. It is forbidden to take justice upon oneself. It is forbidden to harm people of other faiths and their symbols. And we cannot tolerate this brutality that is emerging from the margins of our society and that threatens us all," Herzog concluded.

Close on the heels of Itamar Ben Gvir's response: 'A president of a country that calls hundreds of thousands of citizens of the State of Israel animals is not worthy of being president. Full stop," the Minister of National Security wrote on X.

Il post su X del X ministro della Sicurezza Nazionale israeliano Itamar Ben Gvir (traduzione automatica di X, ndr)

Meanwhile, the IDF rejects allegations that soldiers abused Flotilla activists "during -operations to protect the legally established security naval blockade". "The orders of the IDF provide for respectful and appropriate treatment of flotilla members on board intercepted vessels, there are clear and established procedures. We are not aware of any specific incidents of violation of these binding procedures within the IDF. Any concrete complaints will be fully investigated'. This was stated by the Idf spokesperson's unit, explaining that at the port of Ashdod, the activists were guarded by Prison Service personnel and police.