Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the government must allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in the Jewish state.
Justice Dafna Barak-Erez said the government had failed to present legal arguments to justify its blanket ban on ICRC visits, which was initially introduced in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
“Israel is a Jewish and democratic state that will not follow the path of terrorist organizations,” Barak-Erez wrote in the ruling. “Compliance with the law is the foundation without which a system of government and justice cannot exist—this principled position is not a new one.”
Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, widely considered a conservative voice on the bench, concurred with Barak-Erez, stressing that the state had not provided any legal basis for the move, despite being given many opportunities to do so.
The Red Cross said in a subsequent statement that it was prepared to restart its prisoner visits and hailed the decision as “an important reminder of the role” it plays to monitor the treatment of detainees.
“We are continuing our dialogue with the Israeli authorities to resume our work in detention as soon as possible,” the international organization stated.
Since Oct. 7, the ICRC has come in for criticism from the Israeli premier on down.
In January 2024, a senior Red Cross official sparked Israeli ire when he compared the Jewish state to Hamas, saying that both parties refuse to allow visitations for prisoners.
A month earlier, it emerged that the ICRC has been helping Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel receive “pay for slay” stipends from the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian Media Watch revealed that Palestinian prisoners fill out forms to receive the stipends, and the Red Cross delivers the paperwork to Ramallah.
During a December 2023 meeting in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nudged ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger to try exerting public pressure on Hamas terrorists.
Spoljaric shot back, “It’s not going to work because the more public pressure we would seemingly do, the more they would shut the door.” Netanyahu replied, “I’m not sure about that.”
