The move, which included broadcasting pictures of Barghouti huddled in his toilet, eating the wafer that had been planted in his cell, barely made a dent in the inmates' hunger strike; it did not prompt a Palestinian outcry and the collapse of the strike over Barghouti's ostensible perfidious snacking, as Erdan presumably expected.

The number of prisoners participating in the strike actually went up this week, and on Thursday Fatah's Central Committee called upon all Fatah inmates to join in. Previously, the leaders of the Central Committee had not supported Barghouti's strike and, some say, even tried to sabotage it.

The victory cries coming from Erdan's office were premature. The press conference he convened in order to embarrass and humiliate Barghouti backfired: the snack sting increased support among the Palestinians for Barghouti and the hunger strikers.

Some say that Israel Prison Service officials were not enthusiastic over the instructions coming from the internal security minister's bureau. But at this point it is futile to argue who birthed this bad idea; the damage has been done.

The hunger strike is far from winding down. There have been more and more demonstrations, strikes of businesses and schools, stone-throwing incidents, and clashes, despite the intensive efforts of the Palestinian Authority's security services.