Contrary to the majority of studies dealing with prison in Israel that examine the relationships within the prison system, the current article attempts to present a general picture of the changing trends in the rates of imprisonment over the years. Three findings emerge from this analysis. First, after a steady rise, which reached its peak in the late 1980s, came a slow but consistent drop in the total incarceration rate. This drop is due to a significant reduction in the number of Palestinian prisoners from the Occupied Territories held in Israel in the wake of the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. Second, with reference to Israeli citizens only, without including the Palestinians, there is a clear and steady rise in incarceration rates. Finally, the Arab/Jewish breakdown for Israeli citizens in prison shows that a disproportionate number of prisoners are Arabs, throughout the entire period. The article examines the question of over-representation of Israel's Arab minority in prison, and discusses the penal policy in Israel in theory and practice.
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