TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said two Israel ministers have been banned from travelling to Ireland.

Martin made the comments to reporters ahead of an EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro.

The Taoiseach was asked whether the Irish government had been advised to effect a travel ban against Israel national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

France last month announced it had banned Ben Gvir from entering the country after a video showed him mocking bound activists who had been detained by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Ben Gvir posted a video to social media last month showing the treatment of the activists from the flotilla in Israeli custody.

In the video, dozens of activists are seen forced to kneel with their foreheads to the ground and their hands tied with the Israeli national anthem playing in the background. 

The clip, which was captioned “Welcome to Israel”, showed Ben Gvir heckling the activists while waving an Israeli flag.

Martin said Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan had instructed his officials to “prohibit any traffic into Ireland” of both Ben Giver and Israel finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

“Their behaviour justifies sanctions at the EU level as well,” said Martin, “and that’s something that we will raise now.

“Whether we can get sufficient support across the European Union is a different matter, but their behaviour, not just in the context of the flotilla, but their consistent statements in terms of Palestinians essentially amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine.

“That’s something that the international community needs to take on board, and we will be pursuing that with others.”

A spokesperson for O’Callaghan said that Ireland will “act to prevent those members of the Government of Israel who have been instrumental in fomenting the unfolding disaster in Gaza from entering our country”.

The spokesperson confirmed that O’Callaghan has “instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Ben Gvir and Smotrich should they seek to enter the state”.

Meanwhile, Martin was asked about Ireland’s upcoming UEFA Nations League fixture against Israel.

The Minister of State with special responsibility for Sport, Charlie McConalogue, last week said the government respects and supports the decision of the FAI to fulfil the upcoming football fixtures between the Irish men’s team and Israel.

Martin today told reporters that it’s a “matter for the FAI in the first instance”.

Martin added that Ireland has a “consistently strong record as a country in highlighting” atrocities in Gaza, such as the prevention of essential aid.

He also pointed to the “continued facilitation of violent settlers in the West Bank and the appalling displacement of so many people in Lebanon in constant attacks”.

Martin said that the European Union is the “best platform to deal with all of those issues”.

He added that “one doesn’t want to see the Irish team disadvantage itself through this process, which would have little impact, it seems to me, on Israel”.

“We don’t have jurisdiction over FIFA, nor are we likely to have in the foreseeable future, so I think we have to look at this in the round.

“I don’t think one’s opposition to what Israel is doing can just be summed up or captured by just one issue or one event.

“There the most effective way is international, either through the European Union or endeavouring to influence the United States in terms of its relationship with Israel to get this conflict to stop.”