Slovenia announced on Thursday that it will ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country, in what authorities said was a first in the European Union.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will be declared “persona non grata,” the Slovenian government said in a statement, accusing them of inciting “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements.”
In June, Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, and Norway imposed similar sanctions on Smotrich and Ben Gvir, key coalition partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“This is the first measure of this nature in the EU,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said of the ban.
Ben Gvir, who chairs the Otzma Yehudit party, and Smotrich, who chairs Religious Zionism, have drawn international criticism for their hard-line stances on the Gaza war, as well as their comments on, and policies in, the West Bank.
Both men have suggested that Israel should block all humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as the Hamas terror group still holds Israeli hostages — though Smotrich has endorsed some aid entry as a concession to international politics — and both have endorsed a return of Israeli settlement in the Strip at the conclusion of the ongoing war.
In the West Bank — over which they have some power — Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, has declined to arrest violent settlers despite frequent attacks on Palestinians, and Smotrich has worked to expand settlements and advocate for Israeli annexation of parts of the territory.
On May 21, Slovene President Natasa Pirc Musar, in an address to the European parliament, urged the EU to take stronger action against what she called “the genocide” in Gaza, as Israel fights the Hamas terror group there.
In May, Slovenia was among six European countries to say that they “firmly reject any demographic or territorial change in Gaza,” after Israel announced plans to expand its military offensive against the Hamas terror group there.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza came after some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s subsequent offensive — which has killed more than 58,000 people, according to Hamas-controlled authorities, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants — has drawn accusations of war crimes and genocide.
Israel has strenuously rejected all such accusations, insisting that its military fights in accordance with international law, and has pointed to measures it takes to prevent civilian casualties, and to allow international aid into the enclave.
Last year, Slovenia announced it was recognizing a Palestinian state, following in the footsteps of Ireland, Norway and Spain. Nearly 150 countries in total recognize a Palestinian state.
Israel has rejected recognition of Palestinian statehood, however, and has said that recognition serves as a reward for the October 7 attack.