Israel's Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has given a new classification to crocodiles in a move that may allow the reptiles to be deployed for security tasks, such as maintaining security at prisons.
The country's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reportedly in December proposed using crocodiles around a prison for Palestinian detainees on the lines of the US migrant detention center in Florida dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."Ben-Gvir is one of the most radical members of the Israeli governmentImage: Debbie Hill/UPI Photo/IMAGO
Nile crocodiles reclassified as security assets
The new classification puts the crocodiles in the category of "cultivated wild animal" instead of wild animals. It could allow an approved security organization to keep Nile crocodiles for security purposes, subject to government approval and conditions set by environmental authorities.
One such body is the Israel Prison Service, which answers to Ben-Gvir.
