Public Defender Warns Israel's Prison Crisis Is Deepening

Israel's Public Defender's Office published its 2025 annual report, warning that the national prison crisis deepened as detention and enforcement powers expanded. JPost reports the office represented 31,677 criminal cases in 2025, while Walla says it handled 31,192 detention-for-interrogation proceedings and that police pre-interrogation representation requests rose to 77.3%. The report also highlights the High Court ruling barring warrantless phone searches based only on a suspect's consent, and concern over proposals to treat criminal organizations as terror groups. Israel needs firm tools against crime and terror, but a Jewish state must preserve due process, humane custody and equal justice.