Ben Gvir: I am proud that I turned prisons into a nightmare for “terrorists”

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - The extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, bragged about the arbitrary policies and harsh conditions he imposed on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, stressing his endeavor to transfer this extreme policy to the Ministry of Defense.

Ben Gvir said in a blog post on the “X” platform: “I am proud that I turned prisons into a nightmare for saboteurs,” as he described them.

He added: "We strictly adhere to the law, but we give them the absolute minimum. And yes, they suffer."

He added: "The days when prisons were hotels are over. This is my mandate and this is my policy, and the revolution I brought about in the Ministry of National Security I now want to bring about in the Ministry of Defense as well."

Ben Gvir's post comes in response to a press report published by Israeli journalists Hager Shezaf and Nir Hasson, and reported by Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, which highlighted the deteriorating conditions inside the detention centers.

The report added that security prisons in Israel have transformed over the course of three years into something similar to “torture camps,” where hunger, excessive violence, and the spread of skin diseases such as scabies have become part of the daily suffering of thousands of prisoners.

The two journalists explained that these practices no longer take place out of the limelight, but rather have become a declared official policy that constitutes a basic pillar of Ben Gvir’s election campaign, despite their documentation in international media investigations, human rights reports, and petitions before the Israeli Supreme Court, amid local popular neglect.