Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan announced Jan. 2 a series of new restrictions on Palestinians serving time in Israeli prisons for security-related offenses. Erdan convened a news conference to report that he was accepting the recommendations of a team appointed to examine the conditions of Palestinian prisoners, and planned to implement them. “The party is over,” Erdan declared. Among the new measures are limiting the stipends provided by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to prisoners for the purchase of goods in prison canteens (coffee, tea, sugar, cigarettes, etc.) and significantly reducing their water consumption. Erdan claimed the prisoners use “an insane” amount of water in what is essentially a form of protest against the state.
One of the more significant measures he announced, which could significantly alter the Palestinian inmates’ incarceration, was to revoke what he called “the autonomy” they enjoy. Erdan was referring to long-standing arrangements allowing prison authorities to effectively deal with the record number of Palestinians jailed in the first Palestinian uprising (1987-1993) and the second intifada (2000-2005).
