Israeli court halts Ben Gvir's crocodile plan over 'animal welfare', not Palestinian prisoner rights

An Israeli court has temporarily blocked National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's plan to introduce crocodiles to security areas at the notorious Ketziot Prison, after a legal challenge focused not on the mistreatment and abuse of Palestinian prisoners but on the welfare of the reptiles themselves.

The Jerusalem District Court issued an interim injunction preventing the transfer of the crocodiles until the state responds to a petition filed by the Israeli animal rights group Let the Animals Live. A final ruling will be issued after the government's response.

The case has drawn attention because the court intervention centred on the potential harm to the crocodiles, even as the proposal was designed as part of Ben Gvir's campaign to further tighten conditions for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Preparations for the project had already begun, with work under way on a moat intended to house the crocodiles at Ketziot Prison in southern Israel.

The proposal became possible after Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman signed a ministerial order reclassifying Nile crocodiles as a "tended wild animal", allowing them to be kept in security facilities.

But the plan quickly ran into opposition from within Israel's own environmental establishment.

Legal advisers at the Environmental Protection Ministry and professional officials at the Nature and Parks Authority argued the reclassification had no scientific basis and warned that transferring crocodiles to a prison posed risks to both the animals and prison staff.

Let the Animals Live echoed those concerns in its petition, arguing there was no legal or professional justification for relocating the reptiles to a security installation.

The proposal forms part of Ben Gvir's broader effort to make conditions even harsher for Palestinian prisoners.

Since taking office, the far-right minister has introduced measures including restricting family visits, reducing access to amenities and tightening prison regimes, arguing that detention should serve as a stronger deterrent.

Human rights groups have previously described the crocodile proposal as a dangerous escalation in Israel's treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

Sarah Sanbar, acting Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch, previously told The New Arab that the idea was "the latest sign of how normalised cruelty has become" inside Israel's detention system, adding that allegations of torture and ill-treatment had long been met with impunity.

Helmy Al-Araj, director of the Center for Defending Freedoms (Hurriyat Center), also previously told The New Arab the plan reflected "unprecedented racism and sadism" and formed part of a broader campaign of abuse, starvation, isolation and torture against Palestinian detainees.

Ketziot Prison, in Israel's Negev desert, has long held Palestinian security detainees and has become a focal point of Ben Gvir's prison policies.

Since the start of the war on Gaza, former detainees, alongside Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, have reported torture, severe beatings, sexual assault, starvation and deliberate medical neglect at the facility.

Human Rights Watch, the UN and other organisations have also documented allegations of torture and ill-treatment across Israel's prison system.

In December 2023, Israeli police opened an investigation into 19 Ketziot prison guards over the death of Palestinian prisoner Thaer Abu Assab, who was found with severe signs of violence after allegedly being beaten in custody. None of the guards under investigation has been held accountable.

The crocodile case, however, has proceeded on entirely different grounds. Rather than examining the proposal's intended impact on Palestinian prisoners, the court was asked to consider whether the reptiles could legally and safely be transferred to the prison and whether doing so would violate animal welfare protections.The court has ordered the state to respond before any transfer can take place, leaving Ben Gvir's proposal on hold while legal proceedings continue.

Israeli forces have arrested more than 24,600 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October 2023, while thousands more have been detained from Gaza. The organisation says nearly 100 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons since the war began.