Prison officers tour crocodile farm as Ben Gvir said pushing for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Delegation headed by Prison Service’s deputy chief wanted to learn about animals’ upkeep; ‘Looks like they’re doing serious work,’ Hamat Gader CEO says
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Israel Prison Service officers toured the Hamat Gader crocodile farm in northern Israel on Thursday as they followed up on far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s reported suggestion to jail Palestinian security inmates in a prison inspired by the US “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Hamat Gader CEO Yosi Mousanejad said the delegation was headed by IPS deputy chief Hatem Assam and included several senior officials.
The goal of the visit was “to see, study and hear” about the upkeep of crocodiles in captivity, Mousanejad told the Kan public broadcaster on Friday. “For example, they didn’t know that a crocodile is practically inactive in the winter.”
The Hamat Gader hot springs include a crocodile farm with some 200 crocodiles, and are said to be the largest in the Middle East.
The delegation did not raise the possibility that Hamat Gader would supply crocodiles to surround Ben Gvir’s proposed prison, Mousanejad said.
“What I gathered from them is that right now they’re doing the staff work on the matter, and will submit their conclusion to the minister,” said Mousanejad. “It looks like they’re doing serious work.”
He stressed that Hamat Gader’s expertise is purely zoological and refused to speculate on the crocodiles’ specific role in the proposed prison.
להלן התמונות של סיור התנינים בחמת גדר לקראת כלא הבטחוני מוקף בתנינים https://t.co/d7xibhHry8 pic.twitter.com/cF70orE7UC
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“I understand that it’s some kind of security element,” he said, adding that the delegation did not specify what the crocodiles’ role would be. “I’m not putting up crocodiles for security. Our crocodiles don’t have a security guard hat. We’re a tourist farm.”
In an unsourced report on Saturday, Channel 13 said IPS was considering a crocodile-surrounded security prison after Ben Gvir raised the idea during a consultation with IPS chief Kobi Yaakobi. The report said Hamat Gader was one of the sites proposed for the prison.
The 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.
The Times of Israel Community.