Court halts gov’t initiative to place crocodiles around prison with Hamas terrorists
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir lashed out on Sunday at Israel’s judicial system after the Jerusalem District Court issued a temporary injunction preventing the executive branch from implementing a plan to transfer Nile crocodiles to a prison facility where Palestinian terrorists are being held.
The courts “once again sided with the terrorists and against the people of Israel,” Ben-Gvir wrote on his Facebook page.
Ben-Gvir and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman advanced an initiative that would allow the Israel Prison Service to station crocodiles around Ketziot Prison, located in the Negev Desert south of Beersheva, Channel 12 reported.
Animal rights organization Let the Animals Live filed an administrative petition against the move, while the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said there is no adequate professional basis for keeping crocodiles at a security facility, the report read.
Ketziot Prison houses security prisoners, including terrorists from Hamas’s Nukhba Force that invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, and took part in the atrocities during the deadliest single-day attack in the history of the Jewish state.
Ben-Gvir’s and Silman’s plan to station crocodiles around the wing that houses the Nukhba terrorists is modeled after a prison in Florida, according to Channel 12.
However, the Florida facility was built adjacent to an existing crocodile habitat, the report noted.
To legalize their initiative, Ben-Gvir and Silman sought to substitute the “protected wild animals” legal classification of crocodiles to “domesticated,” so that the Israel Prison Service would be able to take responsibility over the reptiles.
The petitioners noted that the digging of trenches around the prison had already begun, noting that 21 million shekels (some $6.8 million) had been allocated to the project.
The freeze order remains in effect until the state’s response, which is due by Aug. 16, according to the report.
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The Jerusalem District Court has issued a temporary injunction halting an initiative by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman to place Nile crocodiles around Ketziot Prison. The prison, located in the Negev Desert, houses security prisoners, including Hamas terrorists. Ben-Gvir criticized the judicial system, stating it “once again sided with the terrorists and against the people of Israel.”
- The plan, reportedly modeled after a Florida prison, aimed to station crocodiles around the wing holding Nukhba Force terrorists.
- Animal rights organization Let the Animals Live filed a petition against the move, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority stated there was no professional basis for keeping crocodiles at the facility.
- Ben-Gvir and Silman sought to reclassify crocodiles from “protected wild animals” to “domesticated” to allow the Israel Prison Service to manage them.
- Trenches for the project had reportedly begun, with 21 million shekels allocated. The freeze order is in effect until the state's response, due by August 16.
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