Gaza Flotilla Was ‘Provocation’ Benefitting Hamas, Israeli Foreign Minister Tells Anand

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says he discussed last week’s Gaza flotilla incident with Canadian counterpart Anita Anand after she summoned Israel’s ambassador to Canada.

“I described the sole aim of the extremist, anti-Israel flotilla activists: provocation at the service of Hamas,” Sa’ar said in a May 25 social media post. He added Israel would continue to act in accordance with international law and will not allow the naval blockade on Gaza to be breached.

Anand issued a readout of the call later in the day, saying she raised Canada’s “serious concern with Israel’s mistreatment of Canadian participants in the flotilla.”

The minister said Canada is providing Israel with evidence of the mistreatment and has asked for an independent investigation and accountability. Anand also said Canadian citizens were denied consular access while detained in breach of the Vienna Convention.

Activists with the Global Summud Flotilla, travelling aboard 50 boats, were intercepted by the Israeli navy last week in the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus as they attempted to breach the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. A dozen Canadians were among those detained by Israeli authorities. More than 400 activists involved in the flotilla were held by Israel for between one and four days.

While similar flotillas and interceptions in the region are not uncommon, the incident drew heightened international attention after Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir released a video of himself mocking the detained activists and saying they should be imprisoned for a “long, long time.”

Following the incident, Anand said on May 21 that she had directed Global Affairs Canada to summon Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed over Israel’s treatment of Canadian citizens.

Anand later said she had received details from her officials the detained citizens suffered “appalling abuse,” without providing further details.

Ben-Gvir’s actions were criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the way the activists were dealt with was not in accordance with his country’s “values and norms.” Sa’ar also said Ben-Gvir’s actions were “disgraceful.”

Some of the detainees, including Canadian Ehad Lotayef, have claimed mistreatment at the hands of Israeli authorities, who have denied the allegations.

In his readout of his call with Anand, Sa’ar said to consider what the activists did in Spain, Greece, and Austria after they were released by Israel to understand the true objective of the flotilla mission.

The ministry shared footage online of incidents a the Spanish airport of Bilbao where flotilla activists who had just landed positioned themselves with Palestinian and Basque flags in front of the arrivals gate and refused to move. Police forcibly removed the protesters and made several arrests.

The activists have said they were trying to bring supplies to Gaza, while the Israeli foreign ministry has called them “agents of chaos” rather than peace activists.

Sa’ar said he also raised with Anand the issue of anti-Semitic incidents in Canada, which he said now average 19 per day. “The Canadian government must take steps against antisemitic incitement and attacks,” he said.

Anand also mentioned having discussed the “deplorable rise of antisemitism” with Sa’ar and spoke of actions taken by her government to deal with the issue.

The anti-Semitic incidents statistic Sa’ar cited appears to come from the Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents for the year 2025 released by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada. In its report published in late April, the group said there were 6,800 documented incidents of anti-Semitism in 2025, which amounts to 18.6 per day.

B’nai Brith said most of the incidents took place online. The group said the number of incidents increased 9.4 percent from 2024 to 2025 and 145.6 percent from 2022.

Hamas’s 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military retaliation in Gaza led to a humanitarian crisis in the territory and a surge in anti-Semitic incidents in Canada and abroad, including arson attacks and shootings targeting Jewish institutions and businesses.

Police-reported hate crimes with religion identified as the motivation nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal government released its National Commitments to Combat Antisemitism in January, which includes increasing protection for communities and supporting police hate-crime units.

Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: the article was updated with the readout from Anand.