Security prisoners have it too good, minister says, promising crackdown

Israeli Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan and Chief of Police Roni Alsheikh 

Times of Israel staff write,”Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is looking to remove any privileges granted to Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails, in a bid to put pressure on the terror groups to which they belong, chiefly Hamas, to release Israeli citizens and soldiers’ bodies held in Gaza. Erdan announced Wednesday the formation of a public committee to reexamine the conditions of the prisoners’ incarceration.”

“The body will be tasked with recommending the bare minimum Israel can provide security prisoners without running afoul of the law. Speaking at a counterterrorism conference in Herzliya, Erdan said, ‘Anyone planning on carrying out a terror attack must know they will pay for it with their lives, or rot for many years in prison.”

“He added that studies carried out by the ministry concluded that some Palestinians commit terror attacks seeking to be caught and jailed as a way to run away from problems at home, and suggested that worsening conditions could help reduce possible “incentives” for carrying out attacks.”  Last month, Erdan ordered that Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails would not be allowed to watch televised games from the World Cup soccer competition. (more…)