Gilboa committee calls to fire commander in 2021 prison break report

The Gilboa Prison Investigation Committee called to fire a Prison Service commander, but not commissioner Katy Perry, in the 2021 prison break report presented to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday.

As part of its recommendations, the committee called for Northern Commander Arik Yaakov to end his service and not to be given a field command position in the future. Yaakov would potentially end his service by the end of September.

The report also wanted Gilboa prison warden Freddy Ben Shitrit to end his service with the law enforcement body, though this recommendation became redundant since Ben Shitrit was fired in November.

Perry was not recommended by the committee to be removed from her position, welcoming the investigation’s recommendations about her. The commissioner received intense criticism for the incidents at Gilboa, and was even the target of death threats.

“I have been serving in the prison service for 35 years – I have dedicated my whole life to the organization with diligence and professionalism,” she said. “I went through a difficult time, but today I was treated with justice.”

Deputy commander Moni Bitan would not be penalized under the recommendations, but the committee noted that the incident should be taken into account if the possibility of his promotion was considered.

“The committee found failures and deficiencies in all the core areas of the Israel Prison Service that deal with security prisoners: the operations, the intelligence, the transfers of the prisoners and the treatment of the security prisoners,” said the investigation committee. “These failures and deficiencies made the escape possible. Most of them are not limited to the Gilboa Prison.”

The government was urged to improve the IPS across all levels. Perry said that she had formulated a multi-year plan to reduce operational gaps in the Prison Service, and would study the report in depth.

Ben-Gvir thanked the committee for its work in a short statement, saying “I received the report and will study it carefully.”

What was the Giboa prison break?

The committee made up of Prof. Menachem Finkelstein, Prof. Efrat Shoham and Arik Barbing, spoke to 50 witnesses about the September 2021 incident that saw six terrorist prisoners escape from the Gilboa Prison.

The testimonies spread over 6,500 pages, and the committee examined over 60,000 security organization documents. The committee also toured the Gilboa facility.

The Prison Service said on Wednesday that it had fully cooperated with the committee.

The Palestinian terrorists dug a tunnel for over a year with the help of other prisoners. After the escape, they were only recaptured after a 13-day manhunt.

The escapees included Zakaria Zubeidi, an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander responsible for many terrorist attacks and deaths of Israelis. The other escapees – Munadil Nafayat, Iham Kahamji, Yaquob Qadiri and brothers Mahmoud and Mohammed al-Arida – were members of Islamic Jihad.

The prisoners were punished with five years in prison in addition to their existing sentences.

The Gilboa Prison break saw intense public and governmental scrutiny leveled against Israel’s prison services.

The prison was also the site of the “pimping affair” in which female guards were sexually assaulted by terrorist prisoner Mahmoud Atallah.

The Gilboa Investigation Committee said that they had also reviewed allegations of sexual abuse of several female guards.

The allegations that the prison “pimped” out the guards to Palestinian prisoners to satisfy them sexually were made by Ben Shitrit as the investigation into the prison break began. The sexual assaults occurred prior to his tenure as warden, under the watch of Bassem Kashkosh. Gilboa Prison Intelligence Officer Rani Basha, accused of arranging the pimping for Atallah, was fired.

Kashkosh and his officers allegedly knew about the assaults but did not report the incidents. One guard who accused the terrorist of rape said she was placed in his prison wing at his request. Atallah had also allegedly been given a guard’s phone number.

The State Attorney’s Office said in March that the prison’s chief officers may be indicted pending a hearing on the scandal.