Environmental Minister Silman Classifies Nile Crocodile as Cultivated Species to Enable Security‑Focused Prison Initiative

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has designated the Nile crocodile as a “cultivated wild animal,” a step that would permit the Israel Prison Service to deploy the species around correctional facilities, even though her ministry’s legal counsel and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority have expressed reservations, according to Ynet’s Thursday report.

Silman’s declaration is intended to enable National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir to implement his envisioned “crocodile‑security” facility. The National Security Ministry has been pressing the Nature and Parks Authority for months to permit the transfer of crocodiles from Hamat Gader to surrounding prisons that house security inmates, with the pilot slated to begin at Ketziot Prison.

The Nature and Parks Authority contends that such wildlife may be kept only for educational, research, or public‑information purposes, making the proposal untenable.

“Our duty is to safeguard these creatures, not to use them for protection,” officials briefed Ben‑Gvir and Silman, emphasizing the incompatibility with the law’s intent.

To move forward, the government sought a legal avenue by requesting that the Nile crocodile be classified as a cultivated wild animal — a label previously applied to permit commercial skin‑farming of the species.

Legal challenges to the crocodile prison concept

Historically, crocodile farming has created a range of difficulties, from escapes that endanger public safety to other hazards. Former Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan halted the activity after the Nature and Parks Authority’s advisory board recommended a ban.

Silman has effectively resurrected a dormant provision of the Wildlife Protection Law. Practically, she introduced a new classification — a cultivated wild animal maintained for security purposes — whereby the creatures would be housed by a security body only after receiving the environmental protection minister’s endorsement of the operational need.

This approach transcends ordinary regulatory measure and would necessitate enactment of primary legislation, rather than a mere ministerial decree.

Attorney Neta Drori, the Environmental Protection Ministry’s legal counsel, recently advised Silman that the factual and professional basis for pursuing this course is inadequate. Moreover, she noted that no established precedent exists for deploying crocodiles as a security measure in contemporary prisons, contradicting the Prison Service’s claim of prior usage in the United States and South America.

Regarding the U.S. case, Drori pointed out that it constituted a fleeting experiment that was ultimately abandoned and occurred in a region where crocodiles are native, rendering it an unsuitable benchmark for Israel.

Drori further emphasized that the Prison Service’s proposal demands a thorough assessment of both animal welfare and public‑safety implications.

Although Prison Service officials claim familiarity with safeguarding animal welfare — drawing on their experience with canine units — they lack substantive expertise in the husbandry of hazardous wildlife such as crocodiles, she noted.

She also clarified that the legal pathway mandates consultation with the Nature and Parks Authority’s governing plenary, additional government entities, and a public comment period, because specialist officials consider crocodile farming to entail significant ecological and safety risks.

In closing, Drori conveyed that, given these considerations, the statutory criteria for such a declaration have not been satisfied and that a legal barrier exists to proceeding with the requested declaration.

Silman Overruled the Legal Advisor

Silman chose to ignore the legal counsel’s stance, contending that a senior official within the Nature and Parks Authority had indicated that the agency does not oppose the Prison Service’s plan and that a previously approved framework could be reused.

Weeks earlier, Ben‑Gvir and Silman convened with the Nature and Parks Authority’s director‑general and the Environmental Protection Ministry’s legal counsel, announcing their intention to station crocodiles around a prison. The legal counsel underscored the absence of statutory authority and warned against such action, yet Silman continued to press forward.

The Authority’s plenary is slated to meet shortly, and the matter is expected to resurface following Silman’s circumvention of her own ministry’s legal adviser.

‘The minister is contravening her own legal adviser, ignoring the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s legal opinion, dismissing the authority’s plenary stance, and violating the law itself — there is simply no legal foundation for this,’ a senior professional observed.

Silman had not released a public response at the time of writing.

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