"The confrontation between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir continues: the Otzma Yehudit party will convene tomorrow (Wednesday) for a special session, during which, according to the party's statement, Knesset members will discuss 'the steps of the faction following the Security Cabinet's morning debate, in which Prime Minister Netanyahu continued to oppose the toughening of conditions for terrorists in prisons and insisted on maintaining the current conditions under which they enjoy extensive privileges.'"
As mentioned, earlier today, it was reported that Netanyahu decided to postpone Ben-Gvir's request to make changes to the conditions of Palestinian prisoners as soon as possible due to the sensitivity of the Tishrei holidays. During the discussion in the Security Cabinet on the assessment of the situation ahead of the holidays, the ministers approved the operational preparedness of all security forces for the holidays and emphasized the importance of providing security and a sense of security to all Israeli citizens during this period.
It was further determined that the Cabinet will hold a discussion in October on the topic of security prisoners in prisons, and no changes will take place until that discussion. During the discussion, a heated confrontation occurred between Ben-Gvir and the Government Legal Advisor, Gali Baharav-Miara, who opposed his proposal and explained that "the directive is applied to both criminal and security prisoners. Because of the sensitivity of the security prisoners, it was always reviewed by the Cabinet."
In response, Minister Ben Gvir retorted, "We are only talking about security prisoners – apparently, you didn't read the law?" The Government Legal Advisor didn't back down and replied, "You really have to believe me that I read the law. It's a matter of interpretation regarding what can be more or less approved (visits). Because it has security and diplomatic implications, it's discussed in the Cabinet and not decided solely by the Minister of National Security."
At some point, Netanyahu intervened and said, "We will have a discussion after the holidays." Ben-Gvir, who refused to accept the decision, replied, "The problem is that even after the holidays, the professionals will say it's not the right time... It's never the right time, and the summer camp continues. Pay attention to the data; a significant portion of terror events are carried out by people who visited the prisoners, their families, and so on. We have 449 of them who visited the prison, and afterward, they carried out attacks or attempted attacks. Add to that the imprisoned terrorists who resumed acts of terror after their release."
