With Ben Gvir’s backing, prison guards quietly branding domestic criminals as terrorists

Under the oversight of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israel Prison Service has increasingly transferred Arab domestic criminals to security wings, typically reserved for terror convicts. This practice, which lawyers say was rare a year ago, subjects inmates to significantly harsher conditions, including limited access to attorneys and the outside world. Public defense attorneys report a surge in such reclassifications, often based on alleged misbehavior or expressions of support for groups like Iran, even without charges under counter-terrorism laws. For example, Mohammad Abu Samour, jailed for robbery, was moved to a security wing after allegedly threatening a guard, despite police closing the investigation without charges. The Supreme Court has criticized the state for failing to adequately feed Palestinian security prisoners, and the Public Defender’s Office has documented skeletal inmates with signs of beatings and medical neglect in prisons. Ben Gvir has publicly defended these worsened conditions, stating, "Jails have turned into a nightmare for terrorists, and I’m proud of this."