Israel clears way for crocodiles to guard prisons

Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has reclassified crocodiles from wild animals to “captive-bred wildlife”, a move 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 — who reportedly proposed in December surrounding a prison for Palestinian detainees with crocodiles, a la Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility — welcomed the decision.

“Are you thinking of attempting to escape? Think again,” Ben Gvir wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, alongside an AI-generated image of himself with a crocodile on a leash.

The caption read: “Ministers Ben Gvir and Silman are cooperating and encircling prisons with crocodiles!”

Ben Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of incitement to racism and support for a terrorist organisation, has built his political career on hardline rhetoric against Palestinians, from calling for tougher conditions and use-of-force policies against Palestinian prisoners to threatening Freedom Flotilla activists who sailed to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza with harsh treatment upon their detention.

Deploying crocodiles around Ketziot prison