Member of Knesset Itamar Ben Gvir, who aspires to become Minister of Internal Security in the Netanyahu government, demands that the conditions of imprisonment of security prisoners in Israeli prisons be made worse and that the report of former Prison Service Commissioner Shlomi Kaatabi be implemented.
The report written by Kaatabi was not implemented even after the 6 security prisoners escaped from prison Gilboa for fear that this will lead to a security escalation.
Knesset member Ben Gvir demands to abolish the system of incarceration of security prisoners who are locked in cells according to the terrorist organization affiliation, to abolish the status of the speaker for the prisoners and the special meals they prepare in their cells.
The issue of security prisoners is a very sensitive issue in the Palestinian street around which all the Palestinian factions coalesce.
Following the publication of Itamar Ben Gvir’s plan in the Israeli media, the Palestinian factions began to organize, in coordination with the leaders of the security prisoners in the prisons, in order to torpedo any chance of implementing Ben Gvir’s plan.
During the talks, a plan for violent resistance throughout the West Bank and the beginning of preparations for hunger strikes by the security prisoners in Israeli prisons were agreed upon.
About 5000 security prisoners are held in Israeli prisons and the planned hunger strike will be gradual.
The headquarters of the security prisoners warned the new Netanyahu government not to grant the appointed Minister of Internal Security the powers he demands, which it said would lead to bloody confrontations in and outside the prisons.
It called on the international community to act “to stop the cruelty of Ben Gvir and his criminal racist plan”.
Following the latest developments, security officials warn that the implementation of Itamar Ben Gvir’s plan among the security prisoners will lead to a major security escalation.
A senior Palestinian official warned that the implementation of the Ben Gvir plan in security prisons would lead to a new intifada.
After the escape of the 6 security prisoners from Gilboa prison on September 6, 2021, the prison service tried to impose restrictions on the security prisoners and change the conditions of their imprisonment, but this led to a protest in the security prisons and a protest outside them, and the prison service surrendered in order not to lead to an escalation in the West Bank
Changing the conditions of confinement of the security prisoners in Israel is considered an explosive material that could lead to a large explosion in the field and has consequences for the security situation in Israel and the West Bank and it also concerns the IDF and the Israel Police.
The implementation of the change must be approved and decided by the security cabinet, which will have to weigh all the consequences of this change.
It is still unclear whether Prime Minister-designate Netanyahu supports the implementation of this change, which could lead to Israel entering a new security reality in the first days of the Netanyahu government.
The new government in Israel must know what are the political and security consequences of the return of governance in the Israeli prisons and decide whether it is willing to pay the price.
