Operation Freedom Tunnel: Ben-Gvir to dismiss Israel prison commissioner

Senior officials in the Israeli Ministry of National Security predicted that Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir would have to dismiss the Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry from her post, considering the expected results of the investigation into Operation Freedom Tunnel.

Operation Freedom Tunnel involved the escape of six prisoners from the high-security Gilboa Prison after they dug a tunnel from their cells on 6 September, 2021. This was a blow to the Israeli security services, despite the subsequent re-arrest of the six prisoners.

According to a report published by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation Kan 11 on Friday, the results of the investigation will leave Ben-Gvir no choice but to dismiss the Israel Prison Service commissioner, who had expressed her support for his policies after he assumed the position of minister of national security last December.

The channel noted that, regarding the escape of the six Palestinian prisoners from Gilboa prison, head of the fact-finding committee retired Judge Menachem Finkelstein held a meeting with Ben-Gvir two weeks ago and informed him of the seriousness of the committee’s findings.

Finkelstein indirectly told Ben-Gvir that he would have no choice but to remove Perry from her post. Kan 11 suggested that the lengthy report prepared by the committee on Operation Freedom Tunnel, which includes more than 200 pages, would be published in May.

The official Israeli channel mentioned that Ben-Gvir recently held a series of meetings with senior officials and leaders in the occupation prison service, asking them who they thought deserved to replace the current commissioner.

Last September, Israeli reports stated that the department investigating the Israel Prison Service staff opened an investigation against Perry because of the claim of the Prison Service’s legal advisor that the commissioner prevented the delivery of information and documents to the Gilboa prisoners’ escape investigation committee.

The prisoners who participated in Operation Freedom Tunnel are Mahmoud Al-Ardah, Mohammed Al-Ardah, Yaqoub Qadri, Ayham Kamamji, Munadil Nafa’at and Zakaria Zubaidi. They escaped for several days before the occupation re-arrested and tried them again.

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