The mistakes that led to six Palestinian terrorists breaking out of an Israeli prison must be examined and fixed, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
“The amount of energy and efforts invested to fix a series of mistakes and failures that simply should not have happened is immense,” said Bennett. “It requires examination and for us to learn lessons.”
Bennett’s remarks came the day after police recovered four of the six escapees from Gilboa Prison.
He said the events are a wake-up call to the government, and referred to Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev’s announcement on Thursday of the formation of a commission to look into the prison break, saying it will be “a comprehensive and serious investigation.”
The prime minister spoke out against state-run systems that have “atrophied” in recent years that need to be made more efficient and to strive for excellence.
“We can and must work differently, especially in a security organization like the Prison Services, [such as instituting] high-quality appointments in accordance with purely professional parameters, setting national targets and forming organized work plans. What was broken can be fixed,” he said.
Between Friday night and Saturday morning, four of the six fugitives, including Zakaria Zubeidi, were caught by Israel Police’s Counterterrorism Unit in Nazareth and Umm el-Ghanam, with help from locals who tipped of the police. IDF trackers from the Mirol Reserve Unit took part in the manhunt, as well.
Munadil Nafayat and Iham Kahamji remain at large.
Five of the escapees – Nafayat, Iham Kahamji, Yakoub Mohammed Qadri and brothers Mahmoud and Mohammed Ardah – were identified as members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and from the Jenin area.
The sixth, Zakaria Zubeidi, was a prominent leader in Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades during the Second Intifada. He was later granted an amnesty but was arrested again in 2019.
They escaped from Gilboa Prison on Monday. Though security forces initially thought that they were being helped following their escape, it is now believed that the fugitives did not have any outside assistance.
Following their arrest, they were transferred to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for additional questioning. The four men were taken to Nazareth District Court on Saturday night and had their detention extended by nine days. The Palestinian Prisoners Association said that they were not allowed to meet with their lawyers.
Regarding developments in Israel in recent days, Gantz said that security forces will continue to hunt the last two fugitives who escaped from Gilboa prison last week “by all means and joint forces.”
He said that while Israel has “no intention” of harming Palestinians and is promoting economic moves in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, “if terrorist organizations try to take advantage of the situation, and act on the backs of most Palestinians who want to continue the trend of economic development and stability – they will be the first to be charged a price.”
Anna Ahronheim and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.