The Israel Prison Service (, Sherut Batei HaSohar, , Idārat al-Sujūn al-Isrā’īlīyyah), known in Israel by its acronym Shabas () or IPS in English, is the state agency responsible for overseeing prisons in Israel. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security. In 2014, its workforce was 8,800.
History
Upon Israeli independence in 1948, the duty of guarding prisoners was initially left to the newly-formed Israel Police. The Israel Prison Service was established in 1949.
The IPS is divided into three blocs: North (north of Netanya), Center (between Netanya and Ashdod), and South (south of Ashkelon and Jerusalem). The IPS is headed by the Commissioner of Prisons. In 2014, there were 33 correctional facilities, including five detention centers, housing a total of 25,000 prisoners. 60% were serving time for criminal offenses and 40% for security offences. In December 2011, there were 307 administrative detainees held without trial. Of these detainees, seventeen had been detained for between two and four and a half years. One had been detained for more than five years. None were minors. Israel Prison Service personnel are trained in krav maga ("contact combat") and conduct training for the prison service (kli'a) wing of the Israeli Military Police.
Living conditions and prisoners' rights
Conditions in Israeli prisons generally meet international standards. IPS facilities, interrogation facilities and IDF provisional detention centers are regularly monitored by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and occasionally, by the Israel Bar Association and Public Defender's Office.
Prison conditions are equal for male and female prisoners, and all prisoners are free to practice their religion. All Israeli citizens have the right to vote whilst in prison.
Inmates are entitled to visits from their lawyers and family members, and security prisoners are allowed Red Cross visits. Inmates who are married or in common-law relationships have the right to conjugal visits.
In 2011, ICRC maintained a program that enabled Palestinians from the West Bank to visit relatives held in Israeli prisons. A similar scheme for the Gaza Strip was halted by the Israeli government following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Prison inmates have the right to file grievances about their conditions to the courts, the Israel Prison Service management and the Israel Police Unit for the investigation of Prison Service personnel. Credible allegations of inhumane conditions are duly investigated by the authorities, which documents the results publicly.
Inmates who were not convicted of terrorism offenses also have the right to free university education, under a special education program in which they take online academic programs from the Open University of Israel, and their tuition is financed by prison authorities. This right was rescinded for those imprisoned for terrorism offenses in 2011.
In a report of the Public Defense Office based on unannounced inspections, the living conditions at the facilities, as of 2017–18, were found to be often unfit for human habitation, along with widespread cases of inmates' rights violation.
On 25 March 2020, a Palestinian prisoner in the Nafha prison of Israel reportedly set fire to a guard room protesting against the neglect shown towards the health conditions of the prisoners by the prison administrations, amid the coronavirus outbreak. The inmate, Ayman Sharabati, who is serving a life sentence at the prison, set fire to the guard room when he along with other prisoners was sent out for walk, according to Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Authority's Prisoners Affairs Commission. Reportedly, the IPS lacks the appropriate medical aid and provision necessary to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 among the prisoners.
Privately run prisons
The Knesset passed a law allowing private prisons in 2004, and plans for privately run prisons were introduced in 2006. The state hoped to save money by transferring prisoners to such facilities, which would eliminate the need to invest in more infrastructure and manpower. In 2009, the Israeli Supreme Court struck down the plans, ruling that private prisons are an unconstitutional violation of basic human rights. Following the decision, the state had to pay compensation to a company that had already completed construction of the first private prison, near Beersheba.
