On June 26, 2011, at the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a change in Israeli policy toward Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israeli prisons. According to the prime minister, the conditions of imprisonment in which convicted Palestinian terrorists are held will be scaled down to the minimum required under domestic and international law. [1]
According to Netanyahu, this change in policy is intended to put pressure on Hamas in order to bring about the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who has been held incommunicado by the Hamas in Gaza for five years. However, the prime minister did not provide many details on what conditions are considered to exceed the adequate minimal conditions under national and international law. One privilege cited by Netanyahu as excessive is the availability of academic education through distance learning, which enables prisoners to earn academic degrees during their incarceration. According to media reports, other privileges that may be downscaled are the number of meat meals served per week and the number of newspapers and TV channels offered to the prisoners.
If this new policy is implemented, it will most certainly be subject to a court challenge. While the precise details of the policy are not yet available, it is likely to raise serious questions of legality under Israeli constitutional law and international law. In particular, it is unclear whether the new policy constitutes an act of collective punishment (as it appears to sanction prisoners for acts that they themselves did not commit), and whether there is a reasonable and good faith expectation that Shalit's release will be facilitated by the new policy.