New committee may prevent terrorists from watching World Cup in prison

Public Security Ministry Gilad Erdan announced on Wednesday morning that he will be appointing a special committee to examine ways to remove all privileges enjoyed by incarcerated terrorists, which may prevent them from watching the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

In his speech at the International Homeland Security Forum, Erdan pointed out that any privileges that go beyond the minimum of what Israeli or international law require should be eliminated.

The special committee will be led by ex-police general Shlomo Katabi, and members of the committee will include ex-police General Att. Hanna Kler, Att. Ehud Levy, Maj.-Gen. Avi Vaknin and Shin Beit representatives.

“I do not intend to allow Hamas terrorists to watch the World Cup while the bodies of our soldiers are held in Gaza together with our kidnapped civilians,” he emphasized when originally announcing his plan to change the existing regulations in May. “A person who has excluded himself from the family of nations and decided instead to cling to a culture of murder and terror is not supposed to enjoy international sports competitions that bring together different peoples around the world.”

Since there is no clear differentiation in jails between security prisoners, such as Hamas members, and detainees, current regulations make it impossible to effectively prevent said prisoners from watching specific channels. This most recent decision by Erdan follows a series of moves he has made in recent years to try to pressure Hamas.

At the Forum on Wednesday, Erdan also addressed a number of other topics such as lonewolf attacks and the delegitimization of Israel in the international media.

The International Homeland Security Forum is special gathering of international leaders at the ministerial level to combat terrorism and cyberterrorism and will last through Thursday.

Tamar Ben Ozer contributed to this report.