Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 15:35 The GSS and the Prison Service refused the request of a Jewish prisoner to attend his sister’s wedding. The prisoner has received positive evaluations by prison staff, and is scheduled to be released in only six months. Nevertheless, his request was turned down. He asked to exercise the right granted to prisoners in the event that a first-degree family member gets married, a special 12-hour furlough. He was convicted of taking part in an attack on Arabs in the Arab town of Hawara.
In their refusal, officials in the security forces stated that the attendance of the prisoner at the wedding was likely to “lead to disturbances in the Yehuda and Shomron regions and lend support to violent activities on the part of hilltop youth toward Palestinians and [Israeli] security forces.”
Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi, who is representing the prisoner, reacted to the decision: “The General Security Service is still harassing Jewish prisoners for no reason. Recent revelations about the Jewish Department of the GSS indicate that their evaluations are not trustworthy, and therefore the department must be shut down.”
The parole board had initially approved the early release of the prisoner. However, a petition was filed against the decision, and it was re-considered. At the hearing, GSS officials demanded that his early release be conditioned on holding a meeting between the prisoner and a representative of the GSS. The prisoner refused to hold the meeting, claiming that the condition was unreasonable and was intended to humiliate and denigrate him. Following his refusal, his early release was canceled.