Key facts
- An Israeli court has blocked a plan by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to place crocodiles in moats around prisons.
- The plan involved digging trenches around Ketziot Prison and introducing Nile crocodiles.
- The Jerusalem District Court issued a temporary injunction based on a petition from the animal rights organization Let the Animals Live.
- The legal challenge focused on animal welfare and potential danger to prison staff, not the treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
- The court ordered the injunction to remain in place until a further ruling, requiring responses from the involved ministries by Wednesday.
An Israeli court has temporarily blocked a controversial plan by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to place crocodiles in moats around prisons holding Palestinian prisoners. The Jerusalem District Court issued an injunction on Sunday, hours after the animal rights organization Let the Animals Live filed a petition against the Environmental Protection Minister and the Israel Prison Service.
The plan, which had seen authorities begin digging trenches around Ketziot Prison in the Negev desert, aimed to introduce Nile crocodiles into these moats as a security measure. However, the legal challenge centered on concerns about animal welfare and the potential danger to prison staff, rather than the treatment of Palestinian inmates.
Environmental bodies in Israel had previously opposed the scheme, with the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Nature and Parks Authority arguing that the reclassification of Nile crocodiles from a protected species to a "tended animal" lacked scientific basis. Judge Abvraham Rubin stated that the claims regarding potential harm to the crocodiles warranted investigation and justified the order prohibiting their transfer.
The injunction will remain in place until a further ruling, with responses from the relevant parties due by Wednesday. This initiative by Ben Gvir is part of a series of measures he has proposed to worsen detention conditions for Palestinian prisoners.