Israel’s High Court rules that the country’s prisons give detainees insufficient food
In a 2:1 ruling, the court said that 'security prisoners' were not receiving enough nutrition. Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir strongly condemned the decision.
Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled that Israeli prisons are failing to give security prisoners adequate amounts of food, calling on the country’s incarceration service to ensure such prisoners receive enough food “to enable a basic existence.”
The case, which was brought by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and Gisha NGOs, was a direct challenge to policies instituted by the far right Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.
Writing for the majority, Judge Daphne Barak Erez said the information provided both by the NGOs and the Israeli Prison Service itself “raised real doubts” about the amount and quality of food being given to prisoners.
Ben Gvir has openly boasted of his policy, writing in July 2024 that “Since I assumed the role of Minister for National Security, one of my top priorities has been to worsen the conditions for terrorists in prisons and to reduce their privileges to the bare minimum required by law. This is what I promised my voters and the people of Israel during the elections when I announced I would demand this role.”
Ben Gvir accused the Shin Bet, under the leadership of its former Chief, Ronen Bar, of having opposed his attempts, saying they had been “repeatedly convincing the Prime Minister that worsening the terrorists’ conditions would lead to escalation, an explosion, or set the Middle East ablaze.” Ben Gvir said that 7 October proved that such attacks would happen no matter how good the conditions were in Israeli jails.
He described how “after the war broke out, I finally managed to implement the long-awaited reform. The terrorists’ prison conditions were reduced to the minimum: we stopped financial deposits, cancelled their canteen privileges, removed electrical appliances from cells, ended their leisurely strolls, drastically reduced their time in showers, abolished the role of their spokesperson, discontinued their indulgent food menu in favour of a minimal one, and, in short, completely ended their holiday camp conditions. Terrorists released from prison now testify that they would never want to return to an Israeli prison. Israel’s prisons are no longer a sad joke.”
Barak Erez noted in her ruling that Ben Gvir’s prison food policies affected all security prisoners, including Israeli citizens.
Ben Gvir bitterly criticised the High Court’s decision, saying: “Our hostages in Gaza have no Court to protect them. To our shame, the murderous, kidnapping, and vile rapist terrorists have a Supreme Court that protects them. We will continue to provide the imprisoned terrorists in jails with the minimum conditions required by law.”
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