Israel reclassifies crocodiles: Ben Gvir wants to place them around a prison
The reclassification transfers responsibility for the animals from the authority to a “security body”, which includes the Israeli Prison Service, headed by Ben Gvir himself.
The Israeli Minister for Environmental Protection, Idit Silman, has reclassified crocodiles from wild animals to ‘wildlife bred in captivity’, a move that paves the way for the use of the reptiles for security purposes, including deterring prison breaks. The decision has been welcomed by the Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who in December had proposed surrounding a prison for Palestinian detainees with crocodiles, along the lines of the Trump-style immigration detention centre ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Florida.
“Are you thinking of trying to escape? Think again,” Ben Gvir wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, alongside an AI-generated image showing him with a crocodile on a lead.
The caption read: “Ministers Ben Gvir and Silman are working together to surround the prisons with crocodiles!”
The reclassification transfers responsibility for the animals from the authority to a “security body”, which includes the Israeli Prison Service, headed by Ben Gvir himself.
Israeli media have reported that Ben Gvir intends to deploy crocodiles around Ketziot prison, in southern Israel, which holds many Hamas militants captured following the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza that has lasted for over two years.
