Head of the Gilboa Prison, from which six Palestinian prisoners escaped in September, told a commission of inquiry investigating the matter Wednesday that he has been unfairly blamed for the incident by Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry.
The six prisoners escaped on Sept. 6 through a tunnel they had dug from their cell. Among the escapees was Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. By Sept 19, all fugitives were apprehended.
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Immediately "after the incident I was accused of negligence even before any examination or investigation was conducted," Freddy Ben Shitrit said. "I was singled out by the commissioner as the one responsible for the serious failure. I also know she asked [Public Security Minister Omer] Bar-Lev to fire me."
Ben Shitrit said that lack of funds and manpower as well as outdated security procedures were what led to the jailbreak. He said of the six guard towers located around the prison, four were left empty, including the one where the fugitives escaped.
"Had I had the manpower, I would have put a guard in every tower," Ben Shitrit said, pointing out that to this day, not all six towers are staffed.
He also said that the security system was "years behind" with officers checking walls by tapping on them with a rubber hammer to inspect whether they contained tunnels, "in a similar way to how you would tap on a watermelon to check its quality."
Perry's conduct "was impulsive and wrong. Perhaps, it was the result of public pressure. After 28 years in the Israel Prison Service, this is difficult," Ben Shitrit said.
The prison service commissioner has faced her fair share of criticism after the incident, with officials calling on her to resign. However, Perry refused, claiming she was targeted because she is a woman.
"I was appointed to the role because I was found to be deserving of it, but those who called for me to resign did that because I am a woman," she said at the time.
The commission of inquiry seeks to examine the series of mistakes that led to the jailbreak: The prisoners, who were from the same city, were allowed to share a cell; guards were tasked to examine prison cell floors daily, but failed to discover the tunnel; a guard stationed in the control room with views of all the prison's walls failed to notice what was happening; a soldier fell asleep while on guard duty in the guard tower; and more.
The Gilboa Prison has a history of incidents. In 2017, disciplinary action was taken against those in charge for a sex scandal involving newly conscripted female IDF soldiers who had allegedly been used to gratify security prisoners' sexual desires, although it was unclear what the encounters entailed.
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