Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has removed a video of him taunting female Palestinian prisoners from social media, following a complaint to Israel’s electoral authorities.
The clip, released by Ben-Gvir last month, shows the far-right Otzma Yehudit leader interacting with inmates at the Damon prison in northern Israel.
As national security minister, Ben-Gvir is responsible for policing and prison policy across Israel.
Speaking through an Arabic translator, one woman, who admitted being a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, complained of conditions in the facility, which she described as “extremely bad”.
The prisoner claimed that she and the other women at the site had no “normal showers” and “haven’t bathed for three days,” as well as alleging that they had not been allowed to change their underwear.
“[We] don’t get any rights, and we have particular needs as women,” she added.
In response, Ben-Gvir compared the conditions to those experienced by hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, saying: “Our hostages had no shampoo and had no such conditions.
“I am proud that we have succeeded in reducing the terrorists’ prison conditions to the bare minimum.
“The days of summer camp in prisons in Israel are over. I’m responsible for that.
“Whoever hurts my brothers won’t receive hotel conditions.”
And, in the post’s caption on social media, he wrote: “The ‘moaning’ of the terrorists about prison conditions doesn’t work on me.”
The video resulted in a complaint from the Committee Against Torture NGO, which argued it violated electoral laws by using official state apparatus for political purposes.
Following the group’s appeal, the video was removed from Ben-Gvir’s official social media channels, though he has yet to comment publicly on why it was deleted.
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