Crocodile Moat Proposal
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir claimed on Monday that Palestinian prisoners were terrified by his proposal to surround Israeli maximum-security prisons with crocodile-filled moats.
“The terrorists are wetting themselves at night because they are afraid of the crocodiles,” Ben Gvir said on live television. “Everybody is afraid of crocodiles.”
The interviewer then raised the stakes, asking whether lions or tigers could also be deployed.
“Absolutely. That is my dream, and that is what I have managed to achieve during my term in office: that the terrorists will be afraid. And it is very good that they are afraid,” Ben Gvir explained.
Rights Groups React
The extraordinary exchange came days after Ben Gvir defended his crocodile moat proposal, which triggered outrage among rights groups.
Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry recently reclassified crocodiles as ‘managed wild animals’, reportedly clearing a path for the proposal despite legal objections.
Ben Gvir then turned his fire on jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, claiming he had urged Arab political parties in Israel to unite against him and overturn tougher prison conditions.
Barghouti Prison Claims
“In the last few months, the terrorist Marwan Barghouti has been approaching the Arab parties through his lawyers, telling them to unite, because only then will we be able to stop and bring back the conditions in the Israeli prisons to what they were before,” Ben Gvir said.
“He’s worried about himself and his soldiers in the prison. They want to get me out of the Office of Homeland Security. They want to get back to having their chocolates and marmalades,” he added.
There was no immediate public response from Barghouti, his legal team or the Arab political parties named by Ben Gvir.
Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader, has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002 after being convicted over his role in attacks during the Second Intifada. He rejects the conviction.
Dubbed the ‘Palestinian Mandela’ by supporters, Barghouti remains one of the most popular Palestinian political figures and has repeatedly been mentioned in discussions over prisoner exchanges during ceasefire negotiations.
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