Likud minister reclassifies crocodile as ‘tended,’ paving way for Ben Gvir’s prison plan

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, of Likud, reclassified the Nile crocodile as a “tended” wild animal this week, paving the way for their use in the penitentiary system according to the wishes of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Silman’s legally questionable decision, reported on by several Hebrew outlets, was made Wednesday despite longstanding protest from the Nature and Parks Authority against Ben Gvir’s plans to surround detention facilities with the large reptile.

The far-right politician first proposed jailing Palestinian security inmates in crocodile-surrounded facilities in a December meeting with Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi, Channel 13 reported.

Despite Ben Gvir’s insistence and a subsequent Prison Service visit to the Hamat Gader crocodile farm in northern Israel, Nature and Parks Authority officials have argued against the plan, noting that the creatures can only be held for educational and research purposes under the law.

Reclassifying crocodiles as tended, which, in this instance, refers to providing some level of management or care to an otherwise wild species, will allow them to be held in facilities other than licensed zoos or sanctuaries.

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“We need to protect them; they don’t need to protect us. This isn’t the spirit of the law,” one official in the agency told the two right-wing ministers, according to Ynet.

In effect, Silman is granting herself permission to permit crocodiles to be held in specific detention facilities “in conditions determined by the [Nature and Parks Authority] director, to prevent their interference with nature.”

According to Hebrew reports, Ben Gvir is seeking to first introduce the crocodiles to Ketziot Prison, a facility in southern Israel.

A few weeks ago, Ben Gvir and Silman met with Nature and Parks Authority chief Raya Soraki and the Environmental Protection Ministry’s legal adviser, where they insisted on the plan to use crocodiles in prison facilities.

According to Ynet, the ministry’s legal adviser warned Silman that she had no authority to unilaterally lay the groundwork for the use of crocodiles in prisons, but the Likud minister issued a decision nevertheless.

The Nature and Parks Authority’s plenum is expected to hold a meeting soon, where they will again raise the issue in light of Silman sidestepping her own ministry’s legal adviser with the recent decision.

In January, representatives from the Prison Service conducted a tour of the Hamat Gader crocodile farm, apparently with the aim of examining the possibility of procuring crocodiles for penal purposes.

According to Channel 13, the proposal is being seriously considered by prison officials, who are assessing the possibility of establishing such a facility near Hamat Gader, south of the Sea of Galilee.

Ben Gvir’s proposal appeared to draw inspiration from the South Florida Detention Facility, colloquially known as Alligator Alcatraz, which the White House opened in an alligator-infested area of the Florida Everglades in July to jail migrants.

The facility has faced complaints about poor conditions and lawsuits from environmental and Indigenous groups.