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The Israel Prison Service is considering building a new high-security prison surrounded by crocodiles, Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Saturday, citing a security source.
The channel said the proposal was put forward by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during an assessment meeting held by the Prison Service.
The channel reported that, under Ben-Gvir’s proposal, the prison would be built in the Hamat Gader area in the occupied Golan Heights. Crocodiles would be brought in specifically for the facility, and a fenced enclosure would be constructed to house them to prevent prisoners from escaping.
Israel’s Channel 13 said Ben-Gvir’s proposal was met with ridicule by a number of police officers, but that the Prison Service has begun examining the feasibility of building such a facility.
In a related development, the Israeli news site Walla reported on Dec. 8 that deaths among “Palestinian prisoners” in Israeli jails have risen to an unprecedented level since Ben-Gvir took office as national security minister in 2022.
Ben-Gvir has boasted of tougher measures introduced by the Israel Prison Service since he took office, tightening conditions for detainees amid rising allegations of abuses and rights violations.
Palestinian rights groups say the steps have included banning visits and reducing food rations and access to showers.
Ben-Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party also back a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners, which the Knesset approved in a first reading in November.
The draft legislation stipulates that anyone who causes the death of an Israeli citizen, intentionally or through recklessness, motivated by racism or hatred and aimed at harming Israel, should face the death penalty. It also states that a final death sentence may not be commuted.
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