National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expressed outrage after some Palestinian detainees being held in administrative detention were released on Thursday night, rejecting assessments by the Shin Bet and IDF that the move was necessary to make room in prisons and accusing the Shin Bet of giving Palestinians a “gesture for Ramadan.”
On Thursday evening, the IDF and Shin Bet announced that – in light of a situation assessment by all the security agencies in Israel which found that prisons are running out of room – administrative detainees who only have a month left to their detention would be released to make room for detainees who pose a greater threat.
In response to the announcements, Ben-Gvir claimed that there was not an issue of space in Israeli prisons, saying that the order to release the detainees was made “under the direct guidance of the head of the Shin Bet as a ‘gesture’ for Ramadan.”
“The prison service has no discretion in the matter,” added Ben-Gvir.
“It is alarming that on the day when two Jews were murdered, the head of the Shin Bet chooses to pay tribute to the murderers, and this is a day after a request by the Shin Bet extended the administrative detention of a Jewish settler for the second time.”
Tenuous relationship between Shin Bet, Ben-Gvir
Ben-Gvir has had a tenuous relationship with the Shin Bet throughout his candidacy.
On Thursday, Haaretz reported that the Shin Bet had stopped sending representatives to situation assessments conducted by Ben-Gvir due to the minister’s degrading treatment of the agency. The agency has also expressed concerns that the classified content of such meetings would be leaked by Ben-Gvir or his staff who are not required to leave their phones outside, according to the report.
Last year, Ben-Gvir and the Shin Bet clashed over whether or not the security agency should be involved in combatting Arab-sector crime within Israel.
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