Prison Four (Hebrew: כלא ארבע, Kele Arba), officially Confinement Base 394 (Hebrew: בסיס כליאה 394, Bsis Kli'a 394) is an Israeli military prison for Israeli soldiers, located in the military police compound in Tzrifin (Camp Yadin), Israel.
It is the main prison for military prisoners in Israel (the secondary being Prison Six) and can contain approximately 600 prisoners. It is the only prison for Israeli soldiers during an emergency. Prison Four accepts all prisoners except officers, senior NCOs, some military policemen and soldiers who serve in the Northern Command. These go to Prison Six.
Prison Four was founded soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and absorbed prisoners from a provisional jail previously set up in northern Tel Aviv (al-Shaykh Muwannis). It suffered neglect and overcrowding from the onset, and in 1949 a commission of inquiry was ordered by the IDF Chief of Staff, led by Aluf Moshe Zadok and Aluf David Shaltiel. Prison Six was eventually founded as a result of Prison Four's extreme overcrowding.[1]
Ever since, Prison Four has gradually undergone major changes. The prison was the first to experiment with new ideas in the prison sector, such as the operation of security cameras in key locations, as well as a rehabilitation program called Gahelet (lit. factors for returning to proper service) in 2000. In 2006, prisoners' valuables were stolen from the prison's safe, and in January 2008 a prisoner died for the first time in the history of the jail, although the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear. Both events caused the high command of the Military Police Corps to rethink their approach to the prison system and install new safeguards.
After the Six-Day War, high-status Arab prisoners of war were kept in regular Israeli military prisons, including Prison Four. They were given excellent living conditions, including television, more access to possessions, and trips to the outside, in order to ensure that the Israeli POWs held in Egypt and Syria would get similar treatment.[2]
On April 16, 1972, three Syrian prisoners were found missing in a morning roll call and were later confirmed to be escapees. After the initial investigation, the commander of the Manpower Directorate, Aluf Shlomo Lahat, ordered a revocation of all special privileges to POWs held in Prison Four. The deputy Chief Military Police Officer, Colonel Meir Rosenfeld, was responsible for the task, and as a first step informed a cell of Egyptians that their television sets would be removed. The Egyptians asked for two hours to formulate a means to have all the prisoners give up their TVs, meanwhile planning a riot. They began fortifying their cells and damaging the weak ceilings. After this became clear to the jailors, an intervention team was formed, although Col. Rosenfeld did not wish to have a violent clash which would endanger either Egyptian or Israeli lives. Rosenfeld personally climbed the roof of the cellblock and fired a bursts around him to scare the Egyptians. One bullet ricocheted and wounded an Egyptian prisoner. The others promptly surrendered and the injured prisoner died from his wounds.
While the Chief of Staff David Elazar, who arrived at the scene, praised Rosenfeld for his actions, an investigating committee found that he used his weapon illegally. As a result, Megiddo Prison was founded in 1974 to hold certain prisoners of war, as well as problematic Israeli military prisoners.
At the head of Prison Four stands a lieutenant-colonel, with a major as vice-commander. There are six companies in Prison Four and several other assisting sub-units:
Company Gimel (ג) is a closed company for detainees awaiting trial, new prisoners, and some serving medium sentences. It consists of four regular platoons and a fifth absorption platoon, where new prisoners are accepted and sorted. Gimel is the largest company, containing up to 180 prisoners, and its commander is a major instead of a captain.
Company Gimel contains the isolation/solitary confinement wing (Hebrew: אגף הבודדים agaf habodedim), which has 21 cells and 2 full solitary (Hebrew: צינוק tzinok) cells. The regular cells are for separation of prisoners and prevention of harm only - i.e., prisoners are put there if they pose an obvious danger to their surroundings, or are involved in feuds with other prisoners. This is not officially a punishment. A guard from Company Alef is placed inside each cell to guard the dangerous prisoner and prevent suicides, etc. Full solitary (tzinok) cells are used to punish prisoners and any lieutenant or higher in the prison may sentence any prisoner to 24 hours there (up to 1 week for higher-ranking officers).
Company Dalet (ד) is an open company and the least strict of any of the other companies. While technically intended for reservists, there are two other classes of soldiers who may serve their sentences there. Soldiers aged 22 and above may request placement in Company Dalet, as may soldiers serving in the Nahal Haredi, a battalion made up of Haredi soldiers. The reason for the latter group of soldiers is that women do not serve as jail instructors in Company Dalet, thereby minimizing the Haredi soldiers' exposure to women.
Soldiers in Company Dalet have a lot of free time during the day, and have access to television and a DVD player (in Prison Six this includes satellite TV as well). Apart from the much lighter overall atmosphere, another difference between Dalet and the other companies is that they eat with a full set of silverware. This, in contrast to the other companies' soldiers who only receive spoons at meals.
In 2007, because of the shortage of space for prisoners in both prisons, Company Dalet also began accepting regular prisoners with short sentences and good records. However, Dalet's status is still of a small company, and its commander is a lieutenant instead of a captain.