Anti-Israel group asks U.S. to prosecute Ben Gvir over alleged prison abuses
The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Belgian anti-Israel group founded by a Hezbollah supporter, said on Saturday that it filed a request with the U.S. Department of Justice seeking criminal action against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The group accuses him of direct responsibility for alleged war crimes, a systematic policy of torture in prisons, abuse, murder, rape and incitement to genocide.
The complaint was filed ahead of Ben Gvir’s expected July 7 to 8 visit to New York. During the trip, he is expected to head an Israeli National Security Ministry delegation to an annual conference at UN headquarters for police chiefs and interior security ministers from around the world, under the title “Investing in Peace.” The foundation says that because some alleged victims are U.S. citizens, American authorities have jurisdiction to act.
According to the foundation, Ben Gvir, who oversees the prison service and the Border Police, intentionally drove harsher prison conditions, including starvation, beatings, sexual torture and denial of medical care. It alleges he personally took part in abuses, filmed them, and that Palestinian detainees, international bodies and NGOs have described the prison system under his leadership as a “network of torture camps.” The group also claims the policy has led to many deaths, citing at least 46 documented cases of Palestinians who died in Shin Bet custody between October 2023 and August 2025.
Jake Romm, the HRF representative in the United States, said Ben Gvir is “among the greatest criminals of our time” and accused him of implementing a “barbaric policy of murder, torture, rape and abuse” across the Israeli prison system. He said all countries, including the United States, are obligated to arrest him and bring him to trial, especially because of the alleged abuse of U.S. citizens. The foundation is seeking a criminal investigation, an arrest warrant, and to bar Ben Gvir from leaving the United States.
