Terrorist Mazen al-Qadi was identified by Israeli media outlets on Monday as the inmate suspected of having relations with five female prison guard conscripts at Ramon Prison. The gag order on his name was lifted by the Israel Police on Monday evening.
Qadi, 43, is a Fatah terrorist who is serving three life sentences and 20 years in prison for his role in 2002 terrorist attacks. Qadi and another terrorist drove a gunman to the Seafood Market and Mifgash Hasteak Tel Aviv restaurants, Haaretz reported at the time. Three people were murdered and 15 wounded in the attack. The terrorist’s weapon jammed, and he resorted to stabbing pedestrians.
Qadi is set to be interrogated in the coming days, Maariv reported. All five of the guards were interrogated, and other staff members gave testimony. The suspicion of sexual relations with the terrorist was ruled out by investigators.
On Sunday, the lawyer for one of the Ramon guards disputed reports that she willingly had a relationship with Qadi. The terrorist had threatened to “hurt her and her family and to ruin her life,” attorney Yair Ochayon told The Jerusalem Post.
Setting precedents on investigating these matters
Amid mixed reports about the nature of the relationship, Keren Barak, the lawyer for the Gilboa Prison pimping affair victims, on Monday said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir should retract his decision to investigate the Gilboa Prison incident with the same committee as the new Ramon Prison sex scandal.
In a letter to Ben-Gvir, she said the criminal proceedings against terrorist Mahmoud Atallah, who allegedly sexually assaulted at least six female conscript guards, and the Gilboa commanders who allegedly tacitly allowed it could be jeopardized by a joint committee.
The two cases appear completely different, Barak said. It appears from media reports that the Ramon guards had consensual relationships with a terrorist, she said.
“Any comparison or connection between the two stories is a crime.” Barak wrote.
In response to the new incident, Ben-Gvir on Friday said the IPS was set to remove female mandatory service prison guards from security wings within a week to 10 days. On Saturday, he said he would propose at a cabinet meeting that a government inquiry committee led by judges would investigate the IPS’s conduct, the policies on female guards in security wings, and both the Gilboa and Ramon incidents.
In 2021, a then-opposition proposal to establish a state commission of inquiry into the Gilboa pimping affair failed to pass in the Knesset by a vote of 46-41.
Shira Silkoff contributed to this report.