Ben-Gvir is promoting a crocodile-surrounded prison and backing executions, signaling an intensifying campaign of punitive and dehumanizing measures against Palestinian detainees.
Israel’s far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is advancing an extreme proposal for incarceration: a prison surrounded by live crocodiles, intended to intimidate prisoners and deter escape attempts.
The plan reflects the increasingly punitive direction of Israel’s prison system, particularly in its treatment of Palestinian detainees.
According to Israeli channel i24, a delegation from the Israeli Prison Service, led by the deputy commissioner, conducted a field visit on Thursday to a crocodile farm in the Hammat Gader area.
Following Itamar Ben Gvir’s new proposal to establish a crocodile-surrounded prison for Palestinian detainees, officers from the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) arrived in Hamat Ghader, a tourist and natural hot springs area in the Jordan Valley, to conduct an official study visit. pic.twitter.com/SrOxfUF69q
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Officials described the visit as educational rather than recreational, saying it was aimed at understanding how crocodiles are handled in preparation for the proposed prison project.
Under Ben-Gvir’s vision, the prison would be deliberately encircled by crocodiles, further entrenching Israel’s prison system as a mechanism of psychological and physical coercion against Palestinians.
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The report said the idea was inspired by a model attributed to US President Donald Trump, involving a prison built within Florida’s Everglades, where crocodiles are presented as a natural deterrent to escape, eliminating the need for conventional perimeter walls.
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The proposal was reportedly raised during an earlier meeting between Ben-Gvir and Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, following claims of increased escape attempts by prisoners.
The recent visit to the crocodile farm is described as an initial step in assessing the feasibility of using crocodiles as part of prison security.
Executions and Maximum Punishment
The development comes amid a broader escalation of measures targeting Palestinian prisoners. Most notably, the Knesset recently approved, in a first reading, draft legislation that would allow the execution of Palestinian detainees.
The bill, submitted by Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, passed with 36 votes in favor and 15 against, and was referred to a parliamentary committee ahead of its second and third readings.
During the session, Ben-Gvir appeared wearing a lapel pin shaped like a noose, signaling his support for capital punishment.
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“We want either the noose, the guillotine, or the electric chair… death penalty for terrorists,” Ben-Gvir said.
The push to surround prisoners with crocodiles, alongside renewed efforts to introduce executions, points to a shift toward spectacle-based punishment and systematic dehumanization.
These measures deepen abuses against Palestinian detainees and further erode any remaining claim of compliance with international legal and humanitarian standards.
(PC, Al Mayadeen, Israeli media)
