Ben Gvir hails Prison Service for reportedly freeing Palestinian inmates with hands bound and wearing threatening message

Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir congratulates Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi on his handling of the release of Palestinian security prisoners following a report that the International Committee of the Red Cross has protested their treatment.

According to Haaretz, the ICRC complained to the prison service that prisoners were being released with their hands bound behind their heads while wearing bracelets stating in Arabic: “The eternal nation does not forget. We will pursue our enemies and overcome them.”

Following an inquiry, the prison service replied to Haaretz with a photograph showing a prisoner bound in this way while wearing such a bracelet. Calling the prisoners “the worst of Israel’s enemies,” the statement adds that the prison service “will not compromise on the security of our people.”

In response, Ben Gvir tweets that “the terrorists’ advocate” — referring to Haaretz correspondent Josh Breiner, who reported the story — “does not understand how there is a security organization that does not bow its head to them, and treats them harshly – even when it is forced to release them because of a reckless deal.”

“Congratulations to Chief Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi for his determined policy,” he says of a prisons chief he appointed and who is close to him.

Following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Ben Gvir announced new restrictions on terror inmates in Israeli prisons, aimed at worsening their living conditions.

פרקליטם של המחבלים לא מבין איך יש ארגון ביטחוני שלא מכופף ראש בפניהם, ונוהג איתם ביד קשה – גם כשהוא נאלץ לשחררם בגלל עסקה מופקרת.

מברך את רב-גונדר קובי יעקובי על המדיניות הנחושה ???????? pic.twitter.com/EZJWRwckBy

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) February 1, 2025