Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly getting prison perks after declaring herself Jewish

“We have and will continue to address her needs.”

Jewish inmates in federal prisons are entitled to kosher food, time off for Shabbat and access to a rabbi for counselling purposes as well as grape juice and bread for prayers.

Jewish groups in several US states have successfully sued in local courts for the right to kosher meals, which are often significantly more expensive than regular prison fare. A 2014 lawsuit in Florida, the state where Maxwell is serving her sentence, alleged that the cost of kosher food for Jewish inmates was $7 (£5) a day, compared to just $1.54 (£1.10) for non kosher.

Maxwell is the daughter of British press baron Robert Maxwell, who was raised in what is now Ukraine by Orthodox Jewish parents. Robert, who grew up speaking Yiddish, rose to become a powerful media mogul, owning the Mirror Group of newspapers until his death in 1991.

In 1964, when he became the Labour MP for Buckingham, he wrote to the JC, which had referred to him as Jewish, to say he was now “a member of the Church of England”.

Asked by the JC in 1986 if he considered himself Jewish, Robert, whose mother died in Auschwitz, responded: “I don’t believe in any church, just God.” But in 1988 he said: “I certainly do consider myself Jewish. I was born Jewish and shall die Jewish.”   

Robert Maxwell is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and his funeral was attended by leading Israeli politicians including then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, then President Chaim Herzog and Natan Sharansky.