National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has sharply criticized a joint appeal by the "Let the Animals Live" organization and the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University opposing his proposed crocodile security plan.
The two organizations sent an official letter demanding that the government immediately halt plans to deploy crocodiles around prisons housing terrorists as a security and deterrence measure.
In their appeal, they argued that the proposal does not meet legal standards. The letter also stated, "The use of crocodiles for guarding and deterrence in human conflicts is fundamentally unacceptable."
That wording-which describes the fight against terrorism as part of a "human conflict"-drew sharp criticism, particularly in light of questions about the university's involvement in an issue that falls under the authority of Israel's elected government.
Ben Gvir, who is spearheading the crocodile moat initiative, responded with a strongly worded letter attacking the position taken by the petitioners.
"How much malice, how much detachment, how much self-hatred does it take to view the atrocities committed by Hamas during the October 7 massacre-rape, murder, kidnapping, humiliation, and the desecration of bodies-as a 'human conflict' between Israel and Hamas?" Ben Gvir wrote.
"It is beyond my comprehension how a Jew, how an Israeli, how any normal person can see the Hamas monsters as anything resembling humanity within the framework of a 'human' conflict."
The minister went on to accuse the petitioners of hypocrisy and pursuing a political agenda.
"The truth is that even your 'concern' for animals is hypocrisy beyond description and nothing more than petty politics," he wrote. "If crocodiles are truly your primary concern, where were you when hundreds of crocodiles were slaughtered at the Petzael crocodile farm? This is not concern for crocodiles-it is nothing but crocodile tears."