Israel: Nile Crocodiles Considered for Maximum-Security Prison Protection

Herz — World Desk · 17 July 2026 at 13:26 · 30s summary · 1 min read

Israeli Environment Minister Idit Silman has reclassified the Nile crocodile as a "farmed wild animal," allowing security authorities to obtain permits for detaining these reptiles, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

What We Know

The objective of this reclassification is to deploy Nile crocodiles in the moats surrounding Ketziot Prison, a large maximum-security facility located in the Negev Desert.

Ketziot holds Palestinian prisoners — Palestinians imprisoned in Israel as part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whose charges range from terrorism to membership in illegal organizations — as well as Palestinians arrested during the Gaza war.

This measure implements a proposal from Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right National Security Minister, who formulated this idea in December 2025.

Context

Other crocodile species already held the status of "farmed wild animals" in Israel in order to authorize their commercial breeding for skin production.

The reclassification of the Nile crocodile fits within this existing legal framework, extending it to penitentiary security use.

What Remains Uncertain

Available sources do not clarify whether crocodiles have already been acquired, nor the timeline for their actual deployment. Encyclopedic data about Ketziot Prison could not be verified reliably in the consulted sources.