One of the female Israel Prison Service (IPS) guards involved in the Gilboa Prison "Pimping Affair" was told by inmate Muhammad Atallah that the terrorist who murdered the Fogel family had a contract on her and her family, but that he could keep her safe, and then proceeded to grope her, Ynet revealed on Wednesday morning.
The information was revealed by reporter Liran Levi, who had previously uncovered the Pimping Affair in 2018 while working for Channel 20 and then brought attention back to it while working for Walla in 2021 when it was brought up in warden Freddie Ben Sheetreet's testimony in a hearing on the Gilboa prison break.
הוא דרש שלא אספר לאיש על האיום של אמג'ד, אמרתי לו שלא אספר לאף אחד, והוא השיב: אני רוצה להרגיש שאת אחותי, ואז תפס לי את שתי הידיים בחוזקה, ניסיתי להשתחרר וכשהסתובבתי לסגור את השער הוא ליטף לי את הישבן".
— לירן לוי Liran Levi (@liran__levi) January 12, 2022
The IPS guard, identified only as D., had finally filed a complaint against Atallah, a Fatah member and Palestinian security prisoner whom she says sexually assaulted her, as well as against then-prison commander Bassem Kashkush.
Atallah, she explained, began trying to sexually harass her after a few months of her appointment by touching her. Then, in 2016, Atallah reportedly told her that Amjad Awad had issued a contract against her and her family.
Awad was one of two Palestinian terrorists responsible for the brutal murder of the Fogel family in the Israeli West Bank settlement of Itamar in 2011. According to Ynet, at the time, he was also imprisoned in the same wing of Gilboa Prison.
Unsure about this, D. reportedly went to Kashkush to ask if this threat was real, which he allegedly confirmed.
Atallah said he could protect her and then, according to D., proceeded to grab her and then stroke her rear without her consent.
Despite this, an investigation by Ynet revealed that the IPS was seemingly completely unaware of any threat by Awad against D. and her family.
These revelations come as interest has been renewed in the Pimping Affair, which had been investigated but was closed without any fallout.
Shira Silkoff contributed to this report.