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Crocodiles for Security
Israel’s Environment Minister Idit Silman reclassified Nile crocodiles from wild animals to "captive-bred wildlife," a change that clears the way for the reptiles to be used for "security purposes", including to deter prison escapes.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir welcomed the decision, writing "Are you thinking of attempting to escape? Think again," in a Facebook post on Thursday alongside an AI-generated image of himself with a crocodile on a leash.
The plan centers on Ketziot Prison in southern Israel, which holds Palestinian detainees, and Israeli media reported Ben Gvir intends to deploy crocodiles around the facility.
TRT World said the reclassification transfers oversight of the animals from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to a "security body," and identified the Israel Prison Service, which Ben Gvir runs, as one such body.
The regulation signed into law on Wednesday stipulates that Nile crocodiles may be bred only if they are held by a security body under conditions set to prevent release into the wild and only after the Minister of Environmental Protection determines their possession is required for security purposes.
Rights Groups Denounce
The New Arab said crocodiles might "surround Israeli prisons holding Palestinian prisoners" as the far-right government moves forward with plans described by rights groups as "psychological intimidation."
Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), told The New Arab that "The mere proposal to surround prisons with crocodiles" reflects "an unprecedented level of punitive policies based on revenge and psychological intimidation."
Muzaffar Zouqan, also from the PPS, told The New Arab that the decision to establish a prison surrounded by crocodiles would further worsen prisoners’ psychological condition amid current use of abusive policies including starvation, abuse, solitary confinement, beatings and deliberate medical neglect.
The New Arab reported that while it is unclear when crocodiles will be introduced, promoting the idea at all carries a psychological and political message portraying prisoners as outside the framework of rights and legal protections guaranteed by international law and humanitarian conventions.
It added that PPS’s Amani Sarahna said the proposal’s primary objective is "to destroy [Palestinian detainees] psychologically" after methods that have already devastated them physically.
Legal Change, Uncertain Implementation
Israel’s rule change is described as clearing a regulatory hurdle, but the project’s implementation remains uncertain, with the proposal linked to Ketziot Prison and described as not yet approved for implementation.
Radio-Canada said the regulation took effect after Idit Silman classified Nile crocodiles as "captivity-raised wildlife" and that Ben Gvir had proposed using crocodiles to deter escape by Palestinian prisoners.
The TRT World account said Channel 13 reported the Israel Nature and Parks Authority had opposed Ben Gvir’s proposal when he first floated the idea last year, and that the reclassification transfers oversight to a security body.
The New Arab said the Israeli government stripped Nile crocodiles of protected status to make the animal an instrument of incarceration and deterrence, overriding objections from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
In the same reporting stream, Radio-Canada said the far-right ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to deploy the crocodiles around Ketziot Prison in southern Israel, where many Hamas militants detained after the October 7, 2023 attack are held.
