Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu confront supreme court ruling on prisoners

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security, echoed the prime minister in rejecting the Supreme Court’s decision to improve food conditions for Palestinian detainees. This new confrontation highlights the widening rift between Israel’s judiciary and cabinet amid Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

Visiting the site of a recent attack in East Jerusalem—an operation that, according to Israeli officials, killed six people and wounded 17—Ben-Gvir, standing alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu, declared: “Yesterday, the Supreme Court made life easier for terrorists and murderers. This will not happen under our watch. Prison conditions will remain as they are, because this helps deterrence.”

Netanyahu also reacted strongly, saying: “We will not make life easier for our enemies. Judges, too, are part of this war.”

On Sunday, Israel’s Supreme Court responded to a petition filed by two Israeli human rights groups, issuing a ruling that obliges the Prison Service to provide adequate food for security prisoners.

The three-judge panel unanimously found that the government had failed to meet the “minimum requirements for survival” and that reducing food rations had no deterrent effect. The decision marks one of the rare occasions in which Israel’s highest judicial body has ruled against cabinet policy during nearly two years of war.

Since the war began, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been detained without charge, with multiple reports of abuse, inadequate food, poor sanitary conditions, and even deaths from starvation. In one case, the death of a 17-year-old Palestinian in prison was reportedly linked to hunger.

The judges further emphasized that no evidence exists to show reduced food rations contribute to deterrence. Testimonies from hostages released from Gaza also indicated that mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners could negatively affect the situation of those still held captive.