“This is no hotel”: Ben-Gvir taunts female Palestinian detainee over lack of food
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
Video footage released by Hebrew media outlet Push shows ‘Israel’s’ Far-Right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visiting a prison cell to intimidate a female Palestinian detainee regarding conditions in the prison.
During the exchange, Ben-Gvir said that prison conditions for detainees have deliberately been made harsher under his tenure.
تحت حراسة مشددة
— ديوان (@DiwanDaily) July 31, 2026
بن غفير يستعرض طغيانه واستقواءه على أسيرة فلسطينية معزولة، يُمارس بحقها أبشع صنوف التجويع والظلم. pic.twitter.com/vsMFiGW3vQ
The video records a direct back-and-forth between the minister and the detainee inside her cell:
- Ben-Gvir: "How is it being here?"
- Detainee: "Not good at all."
- Ben-Gvir: "Why is it not good?"
- Detainee: "Mental depression."
- Ben-Gvir: "I see. And how are the conditions here?"
- Detainee: "There is no good food... The water isn't clean... They don't let us out, they don't give any treatment."
Ben-Gvir’s Response
Rebuffing her complaints, Ben-Gvir pointed out bottled water sitting on a table inside the cell before dismissing her expectations regarding food and comfort:
On food and amenities: "Well, water I actually see there is. But the food doesn't need to be good—it's not a hotel here."
On what he calls punishment: "Whoever does things needs to think about what they did. Whoever commits a crime needs to learn, especially a crime against the People of Israel."
"This is not a hotel. It used to be a hotel here; today it's not a hotel. Today the hotel here is over, there is no hotel here. This is the State of Israel,” the far-right minister continues.
"That's it, you need to think about what you did. Don't come back here."
Since taking office as National Security Minister, Ben-Gvir has repeatedly advocated for severely restricting privileges for Palestinian detainees, frequently declaring in public statements and prison inspections that the days of "luxury hotel" treatment in ‘Israeli’ prisons have come to an end.
