The capture of the two terrorists that had evaded capture and were on the run in Jenin put an end to the embarrassing and unnecessary failure by the Israel Prison Service that had the entire country on their feet at the outset of the High Holidays. Still, more work lies ahead.
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On one hand, the capture of the six security prisoners restores Israeli deterrence and sends a clear message to terrorists fantasizing about escape. On the other hand, authorities – with the same determination and speed with which they recaptured the prisoners – must expose the failures and negligence of those who apparently failed to understand the threat the terrorists posed and required additional proof of the seriousness of their intentions.
The state commission of inquiry, whose establishment was announced by Public Security Minister Omer Barlev 10 days ago to examine the conduct of officials at the Gilboa Prison and the chain of command at the Israel Prisons Service more generally, should have already gotten to work. The public deserves to know once and for all what really happened behind the prison walls.
The delay in its establishment, the result of legal difficulties, among other things, and the slow pace of the investigation by the Israel Police's Lahav 443 Special Investigations Unit weaken law enforcement agencies and further shatter public confidence in the country's investigative bodies.
Even if the public has yet to learn all the details of what transpired ahead of the prisoners' escape, the information we do have requires prison guards and IPS officers to be questioned under warning to ensure everything is done to prevent the next escape.
The very purpose of the Israel Prisons Service is to ensure prisoners are kept in safe custody, after all.
It's safe to assume Israelis across the country see this as an absolute failure the result of a combination of negligent guards, commanders who let things slide, and systems that were supposed to sound the alarm yet remained silent. With that being the case, what exactly are Israeli authorities waiting for?
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