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Israel Advances Plan For Palestinian Prisons With Crocodile-Filled Moats

Via Middle East Eye

The Israeli government has stripped Nile crocodiles of their protected status, paving the way for a proposal to build a detention facility for Palestinians surrounded by the reptiles, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Environment Minister Idit Silman signed a decree on Wednesday reclassifying Nile crocodiles as a "specially managed wild animal" - a new legal category that allows the state to keep the animals for security purposes, according to Israeli news site Ynet. In the decree, Silman said Israel's security forces could now keep crocodiles under specific conditions.

via Britannica

According to Ynet, the move went against the advice of the Environment Ministry's legal adviser and environmental groups. The decision follows months of pressure from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who in December proposed building a prison encircled by crocodiles.

Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Prison Service (IPS), said he was inspired by Florida's controversial immigration detention centre, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz".

Officials at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority had previously argued that crocodiles should only be kept for education and research. The Environment Ministry's legal adviser, Neta Drori, also opposed the plan, saying it lacked a sufficient legal and professional basis.

The IPS argued its staff could handle crocodiles because of their experience working with attack dogs, an argument Drori rejected. "The IPS does not appear to have expertise in raising dangerous wild animals such as crocodiles," she wrote, concluding that the legal requirements for the declaration had not been met.

Despite that opinion, Silman approved the measure this week.

Ben Gvir celebrated the decision on Facebook on Thursday, posting an AI-generated image of himself holding a crocodile on a lead. "Damn terrorist, thinking of trying to escape? Think again," the minister wrote.

Since what critics allege is genocide in Gaza began in October 2023, Ben Gvir has overseen a sharp deterioration in conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including torture, starvation and degradation. Human rights organizations have accused Israel of widespread abuses and have described some detention facilities as "torture camps".

'Significant risks'

Silman's decision drew opposition from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and environmental groups, which argued the move is unlawful and puts both crocodiles and the public at risk.

The INPA said there was "no sufficient professional basis" to permit crocodiles to be kept at security facilities. The agency, which is responsible for protecting Israel's wildlife, warned that introducing crocodiles into IPS facilities would create "significant risks", adding that it doubted the prison service could provide appropriate care for the animals. 

In a joint statement, several environmental organizations said they "strongly object to the use of animals as a means of guarding and deterrence".

"Crocodiles are sentient beings, with complex needs for space, water, temperature and natural behavior," the groups said, arguing that prisons should rely on conventional security measures instead.

They also questioned the proposal's effectiveness, noting that crocodiles "slow down their metabolic rate, become very sluggish and stop eating" during winter.

Illustrative: would be something like this.

"Security should be achieved through real means, not through animals," the statement concluded.

Nile crocodiles have been a protected species in Israel since 2013. Before then, crocodile farms operated as tourist attractions, but many switched to breeding the animals for their skins as visitor numbers declined.

Last year, the Israeli military killed more than 250 Nile crocodiles at a farm in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, prompting condemnation from animal welfare groups, which accused it of slaughtering protected animals.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 21:45

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Russia Expresses Alarm Over Deepening NATO-South Korea Ties

Moscow and Pyongyang have quite obviously deepened their relations in unprecedented ways over the past years since the Ukraine war began, and this has been most on display with the transfer of thousands of North Korean troops in support of Russian forces, and DPRK soldiers even losing their lives while fighting Ukraine.

So it's only to be expected that Russia side with North Korea in the long-running conflict and standoff with South Korea. But now the Kremlin senses Seoul is moving ever closer to NATO, to the point that it's calling out the deepened military relations.

Russia has newly made clear its position that it is unacceptable for South Korea to become a de facto participant in the alliance’s rearmament efforts.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a new statement issued following a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and South Korean Ambassador to Moscow Lee Seok Bae:

"The Russian side expressed serious concern over Seoul’s growing drift toward NATO, as demonstrated, among other things, by the Republic of Korea’s practical steps to deepen military and military-technical cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, the consequences of which pose a threat to Russia’s security," the statement said.

The ministry stated that "it is unacceptable for the Republic of Korea to become a de facto participant in NATO's qualitative and quantitative rearmament process, as the alliance has openly declared its preparations for war with Russia."

Of course, South Korea is not a NATO member and full membership remains unrealistic; however, it is seen by Brussels as a highly integrated "Indo-Pacific partner" - and of course the United States has a permanent large-scale troop presence there.

Major General Eray Üngüder, Director of NATO’s Cooperative Security Division, declared in June that "The Republic of Korea is a longstanding Partner of NATO and we are grateful to have this strongly committed partnership."

And NATO describes on its website of relations with Seoul that "This collaboration, initiated in 2005, involves joint efforts in several fields including cybersecurity, capability development, new technologies and countering hybrid threats. This year’s conversations primarily addressed topics like interoperability, standardization and cyber exercises."

But Moscow definitely sees thing differently. It agrees with Kim Jong Un that Washington is an 'imperialist' power and hegemon, and through constant military flexing, sows instability from Eastern Europe to the South Pacific.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 21:20

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Fake Records May Have Put Untrained Drivers On America's Roads

Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com,

Fake training records can move an unprepared driver one step closer to a commercial license.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin are now investigating about 75 entry-level driver training schools suspected of doing exactly that.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including using improper driver certifications, falsifying training records, and failing to properly train drivers applying for CDLs, among other violations. USDOT will engage DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in its investigations of these schools.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We've knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry. DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America's roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”

“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole of government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”

This is part of the administration's ongoing efforts to root out fraud from American trucking and restore integrity to the industry.

Federal officials say the schools may have used improper certifications, falsified training records, or failed to train CDL applicants properly. Homeland Security Investigations will work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to determine whether poor instruction crossed into criminal fraud.

The licensing system gives training schools enormous power. Federal rules require many first-time applicants to complete approved instruction before taking a CDL skills test.

Registered schools then submit completion records electronically, and state licensing agencies use those records to decide whether an applicant may test.

Providers also self-certify that they meet federal standards when joining the registry. A dishonest school damages the first major checkpoint before an applicant ever sits for the road test. Fraud at that stage reaches far beyond paperwork.

Duffy's department had already found deep problems. In February, more than 300 investigators conducted 1,426 on-site inspections across all 50 states. They issued 448 proposed removal notices, while 109 providers removed themselves after learning investigators were coming. Another 97 remained under investigation.

The violations were not harmless technical errors. Investigators found instructors without the proper licenses, schools using the wrong vehicles, incomplete student assessments, and providers that failed to meet their state requirements. One school had even trained bus drivers.

Nearly 10,000 training locations have now been removed from the federal registry. The department also says more than 24,000 drivers were taken out of service for failing English proficiency requirements, while states canceled more than 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers.

Those numbers expose a system that went too long without firm inspection. The new joint probe adds criminal investigators who can follow records, payments, identities, and possible coordination between schools and applicants.

Legitimate driving schools and qualified immigrant drivers should welcome the cleanup. Fraudulent operators cheapen the work of every instructor who teaches the rules and every driver who earns a CDL lawfully. They also leave responsible trucking companies exposed when a bad credential slips through.

A commercial license is permission to operate some of the largest vehicles on American roads. Families traveling beside them can't inspect a driver's school records or verify who provided the training. The government carries that duty before the license is issued.

Duffy and Mullin are finally treating driver training as part of highway safety rather than an administrative formality. The 75 schools remain under investigation, and officials still must establish what each one did. Every false record should be traced to the driver, licensing office, and person who profited from it because a forged certificate should never become a license to endanger everyone else.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:55

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$100 Billion & Climbing: Iran War Price Tag Believed Far Higher Than WH Estimates

While the Pentagon publicly clings to a $30 billion price tag for its war against Iran, internal Defense Department assessments (unsurprisingly) paint a far more staggering picture: the true cost is rapidly closing in on the $80 billion to $100 billion range, according to NBC News.

The Pentagon's Office of Management and Budget told Congress on June 30 that US military operations against Iran so far is $30 billion: "We’ve spent about $30 billion," OMB Director Russel Vought told the House Appropriations Committee. 

NBC's new assessment bluntly states the following, however: "The cost of the war with Iran could be more than triple the most recent estimate of roughly $30 billion, according to three U.S. officials and three people familiar with the internal cost estimates."

The lower figure was reportedly initially floated based a classic Washington accounting trick which only evaluates the cost of expended missiles and munitions while conveniently ignoring the charred remnants of American hardware and damaged bases littering the Gulf states after Iranian retaliatory attacks, the report explains.

The estimate featured in the NBC report accounts for actually rebuilding those installations previously attacked by Iran. Judging by how things are going this week - after five consecutive days of renewed fighting - the final bill from damage will only keep pushing up from here.

It has been well documented that while American troops at Gulf bases across the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf were by and large pulled back from near 'front lines' - large US military assets like refueling tankers were in some cases left behind, resulting in scenes like the following:

The Telegraph: In a picture verified by AFP, the mangled airframe of the US air force jet stands on the runway of Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

"Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, according to two U.S. officials," The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-March. Each one costs hundreds of millions.

"The tankers were hit during an Iranian missile strike on the Saudi base in recent days, the officials said," WSJ detailed at the time. "U.S. Central Command declined to comment. The tankers were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired, one of the officials said. No one was killed in the strikes."

And in Bahrain, home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, damage to military facilities is already estimated at $1 billion. Heavily fortified installations in Kuwait have also taken a severe beating, with both these tiny Arab Gulf states being favored targets of IRGC projectiles of late.

In the meantime, with a $1.5 trillion budget battle looming this autumn, the Pentagon is currently urging Congress to approve $68 billion supplemental funding package just to keep the lights on, but as the Iran war drags on with few clear objectives outlining an endgame, defense officials are hitting a wall of bipartisan skepticism among lawmakers.

One D.C. watchdog group, Public Citizen, has stated this week: "The American people are fed up with spending more on bombs and less on basic needs. And they are furious with a pointless, deadly, illegal, unconstitutional and protracted war that is costing lives and driving up gas prices."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:30

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