Who Are Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli Ministers Sanctioned for Inciting Violence Against Palestinians?

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- The Netherlands declared on Wednesday Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as persona non grata in the 29 countries of Europe’s Schengen Area over encouraging settler violence against Palestinians and advocating for “ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”

Who’re the two ministers?

In 2022, Netanyahu formed the most rightwing government in history, brokering a coalition with Bezalel Smotrich, whose Religious Zionism party has 14 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Jewish Power party has six seats.

They account for just 20 of his coalition’s 67 seats in parliament but carry outsize influence because if they quit, which both repeatedly threaten to do, the government will fall.

Here are brief profiles of the two ministers:

Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister

Smotrich is a settler who is a staunch advocate for illegal settlements. He was born in one, raised in one and now lives in one in the occupied West Bank.

In 2005, he was arrested by the Shin Bet security services and questioned for weeks about his role in protests over Israel’s plans to withdraw from Gaza, where 21 illegal settlements were dismantled, on suspicion of planning to block roads and damage infrastructure to try to block the withdrawal. He was released later without charge.

• The occupied West Bank and Palestinians:

Smotrich denies the existence of Palestinian identity. He said in 2023, “There is no such thing as the Palestinian people … the Palestinian people are an invention of less than 100 years ago.”

He has repeatedly called to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel and establish sovereignty over it and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state. In 2024, he said he was “establish[ing] facts on the ground in order to make Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] an integral part of the state of Israel”. “We will establish sovereignty … first on the ground and then through legislation. I intend to legalise the young settlements [illegal outposts],” Smotrich said. “My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

He has been involved in approving settlement expansions. Recently, he approved thousands of housing units in a highly controversial and long-delayed illegal settlement project in the occupied West Bank, E1 area settlement project, saying the move “buries the idea of a Palestinian state”.

Smotrich once called for wiping out entire Palestinian towns. In 2023, he said that the Palestinian town of Huwara should be “wiped out”.

• Gaza Genocide:

Smotrich said that winning the war means Gaza will be “totally destroyed”.

He has called for a phased annexation of Gaza. For example, annexing a section weekly over several weeks, forcibly displacing Palestinians to the south, imposing siege on north and center.

Smotrich claimed that Gaza is an inseparable part of Israel, and wants re‑establishing Israeli settlements there in a way much larger than the old Gush Katif settlements. He has also said Israel should discuss the revival of settlements in Gaza after war and encourage “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians.

He has repeatedly said that aid must be blocked and that no grain of wheat should enter Gaza, and that famine is being used as a “pressure” tactic.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Security Minister

Ben-Gvir embraced extremism so young that Israel’s security forces barred him from serving in the army as a teenager.

Born in 1976 to a family of Iraqi heritage, he became a far-right activist while still at school, and continued while studying.

By his early 30s, he had been convicted of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organisation. For years, his living room was decorated with a portrait of the mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, who gunned down 29 Palestinians in a Hebron mosque in 1994. Goldstein, like Ben-Gvir, was an admirer of the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane.

Ben-Gvir was given the security portfolio when he joined Netanyahu’s government. He now controls the police forces that once arrested him, and the jails where he was once held.

• The occupied West Bank and Palestinians:

Ben-Gvir is known for his racist remarks. In 2023, he said that his right, his wife’s, and his children’s ability to move safely in the West Bank is more important than the freedom of movement of Palestinians.

He has called for more and permanent Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank, closing or limiting roads used by Palestinians. “Israel’s right to live takes precedence over the movement freedoms of PA residents.”

He has called for harsher punitive measures against Palestinian detainees, including advocating for the use of the death penalty.

• Gaza Genocide:

Ben-Gvir said, “No deal, no ceasefire, no aid, just continued fighting.”

He said no humanitarian aid should enter Gaza and “there is no reason for a gram of food or aid to enter Gaza.”

He has advocated for full occupation of Gaza, encouraged forced displacement of Palestinians and opposed partial ceasefire deals.

Ben‑Gvir said he’d be “very happy to live in Gaza” after the assault, and added he expects full military rule in which Israel controls the coastal enclave. He also expressed desire for settlements to return to Gaza, including those evacuated in 2005.

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich Declared Persona Non Grata

“The cabinet decided to declare the ministers persona non grata,” the Dutch government stated this week, confirming that the directive has been entered into the Schengen Information System, as quoted by Haaretz.

This obligates border authorities across all member states to deny entry to the two far-right Israeli ministers.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the decision came over “exceptional circumstances,” and emphasized that the Netherlands will continue to push for coordinated measures at the EU level.

“The decision is based on their repeated incitement of settler violence against Palestinians, calls for illegal settlement expansion, and advocacy for ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said. Veldkamp resigned in August, saying he could not continue in a government that refused stronger action against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its settlement plans in the West Bank.

This development followed a similar move by Spain, which also barred Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering its territory. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the move on Tuesday as a retaliatory measure after Israel had prohibited two Spanish ministers from entering Israel just one day earlier over their anti-genocide stance and after Spain announced sweeping measures against Israel, including a total arms embargo, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying the move is aimed at “stopping the genocide in Gaza” and “supporting the Palestinian population”.

The Netherlands had previously announced it would ban Smotrich and Ben-Gvir from entering the country, saying they “encouraged settler violence against Palestinians” and their roles in the “unbearable and indefensible” situation in Gaza.

In June, Britain, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Canada imposed sanctions on the two Israeli ministers, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians.

In July, Slovenia declared the pair personae non gratae in what it said was a first for a EU country, citing “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements”. It also noted that both cabinet ministers “publicly advocate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the forced evictions of Palestinians, and call for violence against the civilian Palestinian population”.

Last week, Belgium announced that it will impose “firm sanctions” on Israel, including the designation of the two Israeli ministers and “several violent settlers” as persona non grata in Belgium.