Ben-Gvir turns Palestinian detainees suffering into election ploy
Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has promoted an openly punitive approach to Palestinian detainees, including by publishing footage from inside an Israeli detention camp in which he dismissed a Palestinian complaint about a basic human right: food.
The traumatizing footage was filmed at a detention facility holding Palestinian detainees, portraying the harsh conditions there as evidence of his repressive measures ahead of the Israeli elections.
The video has drawn criticism for appearing to turn the suffering of Palestinian detainees into an electoral message, appealing to voters who favor increasingly punitive measures against Palestinians.
'You're going to die'
His campaign has also released an AI-generated video depicting a malnourished and distressed Palestinian detainee sitting on the floor without basic necessities.
The footage contrasts that image with what the campaign presents as conditions inside Israeli prisons before Ben-Gvir became minister, further promoting his record of harsh treatment of Palestinian detainees as part of his election campaign.
The footage has also drawn criticism over its dehumanizing imagery, amid longstanding complaints about inadequate food in Israeli prisons and conditions described as unfit for human beings.
“This is how we treat Israel's enemies: you're not going to get any more food, I feel no pity for you. This isn't a hotel—you're going to die. It's not worth fighting against Israel; you don't stir any pity in me,” Ben-Gvir told the Palestinian detainee.
Not an isolated incident: Ben-Gvir mocks female Palestinian detainee
In another video circulated earlier this month, Ben-Gvir mocked a female Palestinian detainee who complained about poor conditions inside the prison.
“This is not a hotel,” he told the Palestinian woman, who said detainees were not receiving proper food and water.
It remains unclear why she was detained, while more than 3,300 Palestinians are being held without charge.
Ben-Gvir nevertheless said the prison exists for detainees “to think about what [they] did.”
Court blocks controversial crocodile moat
This is happening as Ben-Gvir backed a harrowing plan to surround Ketziot Prison, which holds Palestinian detainees, with a moat containing crocodiles. An Israeli court has temporarily blocked the transfer of the animals to the facility.
The injunction was issued earlier this month after a petition raised concerns that the crocodiles could be harmed or mistreated.
Israeli officials last month stripped the Nile crocodile of its protected status, paving the way for the plan. Construction of the moat then began, with workers digging around one of the camp’s “special wings", according to Israeli sources.
Ben-Gvir said the idea was inspired by US President Donald Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz", the Florida immigration detention facility that was shuttered after reports of horrific human rights abuses.
The proposal has been condemned as another racist means of punishing Palestiniandetainees, who have already reportedly faced mutilation and rape by dogs trained by Israeli officials to attack Palestinians held in torture camps.
Court ruling centers on animal welfare
The court’s intervention was not based on concerns over the human rights abusesassociated with the prison. The Israeli District Court Judge instead halted the plan because of potential harm to the crocodiles.
“The expected harm to the crocodiles merit[s] investigation and justif[ies] issuing an order prohibiting the transfer, or any action related to locating or preparing crocodiles for transfer,” he wrote, according to the Times of Israel.
The ruling followed a filing by animal welfare group Let the Animals Live, which argued that the change in the crocodile’s protected status had been improperly carried out.
The organization said that “crocodiles are not weapons, a means of punishment, or props for a political campaign,” arguing that the injunction would prevent “severe suffering to the animals.”
Ben-Gvir condemned the decision to halt the plan, portraying the court as intervening on behalf of Palestinian detainees.
“We know the terrorists are trembling at the prospect of the alligators’ arrival, but today the court came to their aid,” he said, according to Haaretz.
Deaths and abuse expose the deepening crisis in Israeli prisons
The Israeli torture, abuse, and crackdown come amid the widening isolation of Palestiniandetainees and mounting reports of abuse and deaths in Israeli custody, with at least 105 Palestinians reported martyred between October 2023 and June 2026.
With around 9,500 Palestinians currently detained, including 94 women and more than 350 children, continued restrictions on family and ICRC access, alongside reported shortages of food, hygiene supplies and clothing, have intensified concerns over conditions inside Israeli prisons.
Ben-Gvir’s crackdown weaponizes Palestinian suffering for political gain
Taken together, Ben-Gvir’s record points to a deliberately punitive approach to Palestinian detention, from his push for the execution of Palestinian detainees and his support for the ratification of the “Palestinian Prisoner Execution Law” to his direct threats against detained Palestinian figures such as Marwan Barghouti, as well as his repeated prison raids and public promotion of harsher conditions.
His push for a crocodile moat around a prison holding Palestinian detainees has become another symbol of that approach, while footage he has released from inside detention facilities has drawn condemnation for appearing to turn Palestinian torture and suffering into political messaging.
Human rights groups and UN experts have documented or raised evidence of torture, sexual violence, extreme hunger, degrading treatment, and deaths in custody. UN officials have repeatedly warned that such abuses have at times been supported, tolerated or condoned at ministerial levels.