RAMALLAH: Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, long accused of inflaming Jewish-Arab tensions, has set his sights on one of the conflict’s most sensitive issues: Palestinian prisoners.
Since joining Israel’s new government led by veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last year, Ben-Gvir has pledged to ensure Palestinian inmates are not being treated too comfortably.
After a visit to Nafha prison in the Negev desert last month, he told Israeli media he had wanted “to ensure that the murderers of Jews are not getting better conditions” as a result of the construction of new cells.
Ben-Gvir has also said he would make sure Palestinian prisoners — “terrorists,” according to him — no longer received “fresh pita (bread)... every morning, as if they were in a restaurant.”
“Not on my watch,” he vowed, ordering the closure of what he said were bakeries being run at two Israeli jails, speaking after a Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in annexed east Jerusalem last month.
Israel’s prison service declined to comment on whether such facilities exist or indeed make daily pita for prisoners.
While there is doubt over whether Ben-Gvir’s claims about Palestinian prisoner life match reality — and over his capacity to implement some of his proposals — his incendiary statements have provoked strong reactions.
In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, protesters have waved placards reading: “Ben-Gvir, go to hell.”
In a letter addressed to Jerusalem-based foreign diplomats seen by AFP, the militant group warned that moves to curb prisoners’ rights “crossed all red lines” and labelled the issue “a detonator.”
“Every family in the West Bank has at least had one person who was detained, arrested, or brought before a military court system,” said Milena Ansari, an advocacy officer at prisoner support group Addameer.
“So it’s an issue that deeply hits the core of the Palestinian identity,” she told AFP.
Addameer estimates that some 800,000 Palestinians have been through Israeli prisons since the occupation of Palestinian territories following the 1967 Six-Day War.
Ben-Gvir, who heads the Jewish Power party, has been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization over his ties to a banned Jewish extremist group.
Earlier in his career, he called for Arabs to be expelled from Israel.
He has also called for Palestinians convicted of terrorism to face the death penalty — a matter that falls outside his portfolio responsibilities.
Some 4,700 Palestinian prisoners are currently in Israeli jails including 190 who are under 18, Addameer has reported.
Basil Farraj, a researcher who specializes in Palestinian prisoners, said jail fostered unity between members of different groups, including Hamas and president Mahmud Abbas’s secular Fatah movement.
Farraj said what unites the prisoners is their shared “resistance against Israeli policies” and that Ben-Gvir “wants to dismantle that sense of political organization.”
The son of jailed Marwan Barghouti — an inmate who often tops opinion polls as the most popular Palestinian leader — told AFP it had been three months since he was allowed contact with his father.
Barghouti was sentenced to multiple life sentences over his role in orchestrating attacks on Israelis.
“The Israelis like to create symbols and destroy these symbols to create the illusion of victories,” Qassam Barghouti told AFP.
But he warned: “Whatever they do to him will only increase his support among Palestinians.”
Far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir targets Palestinian prisoners
https://arab.news/2sjtc
Far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir targets Palestinian prisoners
- Ben-Gvir has pledged to ensure Palestinian inmates are not being treated too comfortably
Lebanon approves financial gap draft law despite opposition from Hezbollah and Lebanese Forces
- Legislation aims to address the fate of billions of dollars in deposits that have been inaccessible to Lebanese citizens during the country’s financial meltdown
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cabinet on Friday approved a controversial draft law to regulate financial recovery and return frozen bank deposits to citizens. The move is seen as a key step in long-delayed economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.
The decision, which passed with 13 ministers voting in favor and nine against, came after marathon discussions over the so-called “financial gap” or deposit recovery bill, stalled for years since the banking crisis erupted in 2019. The ministers of culture and foreign affairs were absent from the session.
The legislation aims to address the fate of billions of dollars in deposits that have been inaccessible to Lebanese citizens during the country’s financial meltdown.
The vote was opposed by three ministers from the Lebanese Forces Party, three ministers from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, as well as the minister of youth and sports, Nora Bayrakdarian, the minister of communications, Charles Al-Hajj, and the minister of justice, Adel Nassar.
Finance Minister Yassin Jaber broke ranks with his Hezbollah and Amal allies, voting in favor of the bill. He described his decision as being in line with “Lebanon’s supreme financial interest and its obligations to the IMF and the international community.”
The draft law triggered fierce backlash from depositors who reject any suggestion they shoulder responsibility for the financial collapse. It has also drawn strong criticism from the Association of Banks and parliamentary blocs, fueling fears the law will face intense political wrangling in Parliament ahead of elections scheduled in six months.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed the Cabinet had approved the bill and referred it to Parliament for debate and amendments before final ratification. Addressing public concerns, he emphasized that the law includes provisions for forensic auditing and accountability.
“Depositors with accounts under $100,000 will be repaid in full with interest and without any deductions,” Salam said. “Large depositors will also receive their first $100,000 in full, and the remainder will be issued as negotiable bonds backed by the assets of the Central Bank, valued at around $50 billion.”
He said further that bondholders will receive an initial 2 percent payout after the first tranche of repayments is completed.
The law also includes a clause requiring criminal accountability. “Anyone who smuggled funds abroad or benefited from unjustified profits will be fined 30 percent,” Salam said.
He emphasized that Lebanon’s gold reserves will remain untouched. “A clear provision reaffirms the 1986 law barring the sale or mortgaging of gold without parliamentary approval,” he said, dismissing speculation about using the reserves to cover financial losses.
Salam admitted that the law was not perfect but called it “a fair step toward restoring rights.”
“The banking sector’s credibility has been severely damaged. This law aims to revive it by valuing assets, recapitalizing banks, and ending Lebanon’s dangerous reliance on a cash economy,” he said. “Each day of delay further erodes people’s rights.”
While the Association of Banks did not release an immediate response after the vote, it previously argued during discussions that the law would destroy remaining deposits. Bank representatives said lenders would struggle to secure more than $20 billion to cover the initial repayment tier and accused the state of absolving itself of responsibility while effectively granting amnesty for decades of financial mismanagement and corruption.
The law’s fate now rests with Parliament, where political competition ahead of the 2025 elections could complicate or delay its passage.
Lebanon’s banking sector has been at the heart of the country’s economic collapse, with informal capital controls locking depositors out of their savings and trust in state institutions plunging. International donors, including the IMF, have made reforms to the sector a key condition for any financial assistance.
