Ex-prison warden says he was axed, falsely accused after refusing to go easy on Jewish inmates

A former prison warden who was dismissed from his post due to sexual harassment allegations says the claims were fabricated as part of a politically motivated plot to have him sacked over his refusal to exercise extra lenience with Jewish security prisoners.

In a petition submitted today to the High Court of Justice, Junior Commissioner Shai Parnasa, the former warden of Ayalon Prison, says that he was pressured by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Israel Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi to ease the prison conditions of Jewish detainees, particularly those jailed for nationalist violence.

According to Parnasa’s account, he flouted this pressure several times, leading his superiors to falsely accuse him of harassing a young female social worker.

The sexual harassment case against Parnasa was eventually closed by the State Attorney’s Office, which ruled him out as a suspect.

He was, however, convicted by an internal disciplinary court run by the Prison Service, and subsequently fired from his post.

Included in Parnasa’s petition are some 40 WhatsApp messages and recorded conversations said to prove that he was subject to pressure from Ben Gvir and Yaakobi, Ynet reports.

In one instance, Parnasa reportedly refused to grant visitation rights or end solitary confinement for convicted murderer Amiram Ben Uliel, who killed a Palestinian couple and their baby in a 2015 firebombing.

In another WhatsApp conversation, Ben Gvir’s adviser Shlomi Cohen requested that he grant a conjugal visit to Shlomo Pinto, who is serving an 11-year sentence for stabbing a Jewish man whom he mistook for an Arab, in a bungled revenge attack.

Parnasa filed the petition against Ben Gvir, Yaakobi, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, State Attorney Amit Aisman and the Shin Bet, among others.

Responding to the petition, Ben Gvir accuses the ex-warden of “trying to escape responsibility by fabricating accusations against a third party.”

“The incident involving the senior prison service official who was convicted after confessing to attempting to force himself on a young female prison guard is extremely serious,” his office says in a statement. “During Minister Ben Gvir’s tenure, there is a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment and abuse of authority.”