Mitzvah-observant prisoners suffer discrimination in
prisoner rehabilitation programs. This came to light at a
deliberation of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee on 13
Tammuz.
According to the information cited, a religious prisoner
undergoing an individual rehabilitation program may be
referred to a framework where only Torah studies are
pursued, whereas religious prisoners undergoing group
rehabilitation must also work, along with his Torah study.
In contrast, a nonobservant prisoner in a group
rehabilitation program may participate in a secular studies
program without any obligation to work.
Chairman of the Committee Rabbi Gafni protested this
discrimination against mitzvah observers who are interested
in completing their rehabilitation in a Torah studies
program. He demanded immediate amendment of these
regulations by heads of the Prisons Service, who were also
in attendance in the meeting.
The Committee also related to newspaper articles describing
the terms of Aryeh Deri's prison service. Shas Knesset
Members David Tal and Rachamim Malul claimed that the
material in the press stemmed from leaks in the Prisons
Service, which had resulted from personnel problems. He said
that the information was false. Tal proposed the setting up
of a public committee to examine the issue of leaks from the
Prisons Service. Deputy Commissioner of the Prisons Service,
Daniel Avidan, said that many of the stories in the media
about Deri were untrue, and that the Prisons Service regards
such leaks as a very serious infraction. He added that the
Prisons Service is currently attempting to discover the
source of the leaks.
