Israel Hayom criticizes the investigation committee’s conclusions regarding the “Freedom Tunnel”
The newspaper “Israel Hayom” criticized the general trends of the report of the Special Committee that investigated the circumstances that enabled six Palestinian prisoners to escape from “Gilboa” prison through a tunnel on September 6, 2021.
In a report it published in its issue issued today, Thursday, the newspaper considered that the recommendations issued by the committee regarding the leadership of the Prison Authority do not correspond to the evidence indicating their failure to perform their duties.
Israel Hayom pointed out that the committee dealt “leniently” with the political echelon, which was supposed to bear part of the responsibility for the negligence that led to the prisoners’ escape from prison.
The newspaper held the political echelon responsible for the negative discrimination that the Prison Service was subjected to over decades, compared to other security institutions in Israel.
She pointed out that the government underestimates the “Prison Authority”, whether in terms of assessing its status and role or through the modest budgets allocated to it.
Israel Hayom indicated that the members of the investigation committee adopted the description of the former Minister of Internal Security, Omer Barlev, that the Prison Service is a “corrupt institution”, realizing that the political echelon bears responsibility for “corrupting” this institution through its neglect and failure to grant it the necessary financial allocations.
The newspaper asked about the justifications that prompted the committee, after recommending the dismissal of the leadership level in the Prison Service, warning that the committee had sent a negative message through this leniency.
Yesterday evening, Wednesday, the Israeli investigation committee into the escape of six Palestinian prisoners from Gilboa prison in Operation “Freedom Tunnel” presented its final conclusions to the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and the Prisons Authority, regarding The failures that enabled the prisoners to escape, explaining that there are “failures and deficiencies in the work of the prison authority in all the basic areas that deal with security prisoners.”
