Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir boasted of making Palestinian detainees’ lives “hell,” saying prison authorities had confiscated a makeshift cake they prepared and sent them to solitary confinement.
The prisoners at Lavi prison “hoarded the little food they had”, saving bread and jam over several days to celebrate on Tuesday if he failed to win re-election, he said on X.
“A spoonful of jam and another spoonful of jam, a slice of bread and another slice of bread, like this for several days, all to prepare an improvised cake,” he wrote.
Ben-Gvir praised prison authorities for finding the cake, saying “the prisoners were brought to disciplinary trial and transferred to solitary confinement”. “They had already planned the celebrations, but for us, the celebration is over,” he added. “On Tuesday, it's forbidden to let them celebrate—vote B at the ballot box!”
Ben-Gvir openly advocates to make already difficult conditions harsher for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. This was not the first time Ben-Gvir has targeted Palestinian detainees, including raiding their cells to taunt or mock them.
An AI-generated video posted to his social media in August showed well-fed Palestinian men on a conveyor belt entering a detention facility, then emerging emaciated, weeping – captioned “We promised, we delivered”.
Days later, he posted footage of himself confronting female prisoners. One told him she had not showered in three days and was not receiving medical treatment. “The good conditions in the prisons are over,” Ben-Gvir told her. “I am directly responsible for everything. I am pleased with these conditions.”
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said Ben-Gvir’s remarks showed that conditions inside Israeli prisons were part of what it described as a systematic policy of retaliation based on “humiliation, torture, starvation and deprivation”. It said hundreds of testimonies from released detainees and prisoners had documented serious abuses inside Israeli prisons and detention facilities.
Recently, he posted a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians will be hanged. Ben-Gvir, who has previously attracted international sanctions and condemnation for his anti-Palestinian remarks and actions, said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings.
He posted the video on social media of a visit he had made to the unidentified location, where he can be seen pointing at foundations being laid and boasting it was where “terrorists will be executed”. “I promised to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons – we kept it,” said Ben-Gvir in the video. “I promised to pass the Death Penalty for Terrorists law – we did. And now the death row and hanging facility are also starting to take shape.”
Since taking office, Ben-Gvir has pursued policies aimed at worsening detention conditions for Palestinian detainees, including measures involving food deprivation, mistreatment, physical abuse and other forms of abuse, as well as restrictions that have contributed to the spread of disease, systematic deprivation, isolation from the outside world, and continued restrictions on family visits.
Ben-Gvir, who himself has convictions for incitement to racism, interfering with a police officer performing his duty, and support for a terrorist organisation (Meir Kahane’s banned Kach movement), has served as Israel’s national security minister since 2022.
One of the main drivers of Israel’s new death penalty law, Ben-Gvir has a long history of extremist statements and provocations. He celebrated his 50th birthday in May with the gift of a birthday cake decorated with the iced image of a noose.
He also attracted widespread criticism recently for advocating a policy of punitive killings in Gaza of 30-40 people a night. “I think we should be doing 30 to 40 targeted assassinations per night,” Ben-Gvir said. “Not just those who pose an immediate threat. There are people there who don’t deserve to live … They are not even people.”
The UN secretary general, António Guterres called Ben-Gvir’s comments “appalling”, “outrageous”, “dehumanising” and “dangerous”.
Ben-Gvir in July unveiled a seven-year plan branded “Disengagement 710” to remove Gaza’s roughly two million residents through what he called “voluntary emigration”. Ben-Gvir added that if re-elected, he would establish a migration ministry to forcibly expel Palestinians.
Ben-Gvir also advocated for a plan to place crocodiles in moats encircling prisons where Palestinian detainees are being held.
According to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups, over 9,600 Palestinians are held in Israeli custody, including 88 women and 350 children, where they are subject to mistreatment – including medical neglect, beatings and rape – tantamount to systematic torture.
The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office called Ben-Gvir’s actions “a cheap political and electoral stunt” made before Israel’s October 27 elections.
