Why are Israeli prisons infested with sex scandals? - analysis

The Israel Prison Service (IPS) is embroiled in yet another scandal, with reports emerging on Friday that at least one female prison guard conscript had a consensual or non-consensual relationship with a terrorist in an Israeli prison. And it is not the first such incident.

The tenure of IPS Commissioner Katy Perry has been riddled with incidents that amount to a failure to punish criminals and cloister off threats to society.

Perry was appointed to her position in January 2021. In September of that year, Gilboa Prison experienced a prison break in which six terrorists managed to tunnel out of the maximum-security prison, with five others helping. The manhunt lasted almost two weeks, making the break one of the most notable in Israel’s history.

Doubts about Perry’s continued service as head of the IPS were immediately shot down by the commissioner, who said three days later: “I am here to continue to lead you.”

Then in November 2022, Gilboa Prison Warden Freddy Ben-Sheetrit was fired, while an investigation committee in May called for Northern District Cmdr. Arik Yaakov to end his service. For Deputy Northern District Cmdr. Moni Bitan, any promotion should take the prison break into account, said the committee. So, Perry escaped censure.

Inquiries into the prison break revealed another scandal: Ben-Sheetrit said a few critical sentences on the stand that led to widespread coverage of the so-called “pimping affair” in which prison staff allegedly facilitated terrorist Muhammad Atallah’s rape or sexual harassment of at least six female prison guards from 2015-2017. A letter from the attorney representing the guards, Keren Barak, said the abuse lasted four years.

The investigation was closed in 2018, with the testimonies of the victims under gag order and the consequences unrealized. It was only with public scrutiny in 2021 that heads began to roll. State Attorney Amit Aisman reopened criminal investigations in December.

Former prison intelligence officer Rani Basha is the man who reportedly placed female guards into Atallah’s wing at his request in exchange for intel. He was fired in July 2022. One female guard claimed that her phone number was given to the terrorist, who continued to contact her after her mandatory service had ended.

Nissim Finish, a former intelligence officer in Gilboa Prison, resigned in February. Both Basha and Gilboa Prison’s former commander Bassem Kashkosh, who reportedly knew of the assaults, are under indictment pending a hearing. Atallah continues to face prosecution for rape and indecent acts.

Now, Perry is not responsible for the pimping affair. It occurred long before her tenure. Yet her inaction and silence, and even possible cover-up of the assaults, continued months into her service. There was enough information available to warrant the opening of indictments and fire staff. What was lacking was the will to do so.

Then this past Friday, Israeli media reports said at least one IPS conscript had an intimate relationship with a terrorist inmate. The lawyer representing the woman asserted that the relationship was nonconsensual, as she had been assaulted multiple times while under threat of harm to herself, her family, and her reputation. A gag order has been placed on the investigation, but more details are expected soon.

Regardless of whether the terrorist was able to enjoy intimate relations when he was supposed to be punished for his crimes, or he was in an environment that allowed him to engage in the assault of guards, the IPS had years to learn from the pimping affair and implement policies to protect female guards. Instead, it took a second incident to accelerate a solution, whether one agrees with the new policy or not.

New prison sex scandal under Katy Perry's watch

Any system can suffer unforeseen blows from an exceptional “black swan” event, but the inability to address the role of female guards in security wings demonstrates systemic failure in the IPS.

The organization seems to be unable to meet the most basic function of a prison system: housing prisoners. The prisons are in a state of crisis, with overcrowding resulting in degrading conditions, Public Defender Anat Meyassed-Cnaan said in an August letter to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit).

The Israeli prison system has a maximum occupancy capacity standard of 14,500 prisoners, but in August, there were 16,100 prisoners and detainees. In February, inmates and detainees were being illegally housed in the same wing in Nitzan Prison, Meyassed-Cnaan said. Some detainees were sleeping on mattresses on the floors, and just over half of all inmates lacked the space mandated by law.

Overcrowding led in many cases to detainees being forced to stay at police stations. Nineteen stations were found to be housing detainees for long periods of time in 2022. These stations lack the resources to sustain long-term housing, do not have enough beds, mattresses, toilets, and showers, or the capability to consistently provide food, water, toiletries, and clothing. Reports by the Public Defender’s Office revealed accounts of inhumane conditions.

The housing of detainees in police stations first emerged in 2022 and was supposed to have ended in December after the Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice. The petition was canceled, but the practice soon resumed.

In response, Perry has frozen renovations of wings to allow for beds to be restored, and some 200 low-level criminals have been released.

Many have blamed Ben-Gvir for the current state of affairs, and while the national security minister may have some responsibility in the state of the prisons, he only came into power around nine months ago. Perry has presided to some extent over all of these incidents.

Perry is set to end her term in January 2024. With each scandal, there have been firings and investigations. It can be argued that Perry did not have direct involvement for each of them and that it was the failings of her underlings. Part of leadership, however, is taking responsibility for what happens under one’s command, even if it wasn’t directly one’s fault.

So far, Perry has not fallen on her sword. But given the IPS’s current track record, it’s not impossible that yet another scandal will emerge between now and January.