Palestinian prisoners put in solitary confinement for making cake trolling Ben-Gvir

Palestinian prisoners have reportedly been placed in solitary confinement after making a cake to celebrate the potential election defeat of Israel’s national security minister. Guards at Lavi prison discovered the makeshift cake after it was fashioned from the inmates’ daily rations to mock Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far right politician claimed. Prison staff confiscated it from a cell, prompting officials to initiate immediate disciplinary action against all eight individuals involved, according to a report by Israeli daily Israel Hayom.Ben-Gvir gloated over the punishment when he posted a picture of the cake to social media, ahead of Israel going to the polls in a pivotal vote on Tuesday. Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted this image of the cake, said to have been made by Palestinian prisoners (X/@itamarbengvir)“The terrorists in Lavi prison sat and hoarded from the little food they had,” he wrote on X. “A spoonful of jam and another spoonful of jam, a slice of bread and another slice of bread, like this for several days, all to prepare an improvised cake and celebrate on Tuesday, in the event that I am not elected.”Praising the Israel Prison Service (IPS) for intercepting the item and isolating the inmates, Ben-Gvir noted: “The excellent IPS commissioner and his men located the cake, and the prisoners were brought to disciplinary trial and transferred to solitary confinement.”Framing the incident as a rallying cry for his ultra-nationalist Jewish Power party ahead of the vote, he added: “They had already planned the celebrations, but for us, the celebration is over. On Tuesday, it's forbidden to let them celebrate — vote B at the ballot box!”The episode comes amid a sustained campaign by Ben-Gvir to radically worsen conditions for Palestinian detainees. Ben-Gvir has previously pledged to make prison conditions for Palestinians akin to ‘hell’ (AFP/Getty)Since entering government he has openly boasted of turning the lives of Palestinian prisoners into “hell,” slashing dietary portions, stripping away basic prisoner amenities and intensifying already-punitive regimes.The far right politician also has a history of gloating over the treatment of inmates and Palestinian protesters alike. In May he faced widespread international condemnation after posting a video showing him taunting activists from the Freedom Flotilla intercepted by Israel’s navy. And in August he faced backlash after announcing the construction of a gallows site to execute Palestinians sentenced to death, along with its own viewing platform. At present, more than 9,100 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, according to rights group B’Tselem. More than a third of these detainees are held under administrative detention — a procedure that allows imprisonment without charge or trial.The United Nations has repeatedly raised alarm over the treatment of Palestinian inmates, accusing Israeli authorities of systematic violations including severe food deprivation, physical abuse, torture, medical neglect, and the routine use of solitary confinement.Israel has consistently denied the mistreatment or abuse of Palestinian detainees.