An editorial published Sunday morning in Haaretz sharply criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the Israel Prison Service's policies toward Palestinian prisoners, comparing their conditions of imprisonment to those of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann while he was held in Israel.
The editorial claimed that since the October 7 attack, conditions of imprisonment for Palestinian prisoners have deteriorated significantly and that they have suffered from hunger, violence, and humiliation at the hands of prison guards.
The editorial opened with the story of Hiba Alawi, a 38-year-old mother of five from Judea and Samaria:
"She was convicted of two attempts to enter Israel illegally after trying to provide for her children. She was held in Damon Prison for five and a half months."
Haaretz alleged that Alawi suffered from severe food shortages during her imprisonment: "Throughout her imprisonment, Alawi suffered from hunger. On most days of her incarceration, the daily food provided to her by the Israel Prison Service consisted of six slices of bread for the entire day, sometimes wet bread and sometimes stale; breakfast consisted of one tablespoon of white cheese and a quarter tablespoon of jam; lunch consisted of two tablespoons of lentils, two tablespoons of chickpeas, and two tablespoons of partially cooked rice; and for dinner she was given one tablespoon of tahini, one tablespoon of hummus, and a hard-boiled egg, which she usually threw away because of its foul smell."
The editorial also included serious allegations concerning the conduct of prison guards toward Alawi during her imprisonment: "In addition to being starved, Alawi suffered severe, arbitrary violence and humiliation at the hands of Israel Prison Service guards. Guards painfully shackled her, beat her, pulled her hair, and dragged her. One guard stepped on her fingers, causing a fingernail to be torn off. Guards threw tear gas and stun grenades near her, shocked her with a Taser, sprayed her with pepper spray, broke her teeth, and female guards subjected her and other prisoners to humiliating strip searches. Like other prisoners, she also suffered from scabies."
The editorial went on to directly criticize National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is responsible for the Israel Prison Service:
"Since October 7, Israel's security prisons have become torture facilities. When Israel abducted the Nazi monster Adolf Eichmann, no one even considered starving or beating him in prison. But under Benjamin Netanyahu's government, led in this matter by the Kahanist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, there is no red line that has not been crossed."
In its conclusion, the newspaper accused Ben Gvir of exploiting prison policies for electoral purposes, while also criticizing the leadership of the Israel Prison Service:
"Indeed, the cruelty of the Israel Prison Service is at the center of Ben Gvir's election campaign, with the disgraceful cooperation of the Prison Service's leadership."