Israel’s parliament on Monday night voted down a bill that would have regulated the denial of International Committee of the Red Cross visits to Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons, Kan News reported.
The legislation, introduced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, was defeated 41-36, after the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party boycotted the vote.
Before the vote, coalition whip Ofir Katz (Likud Party) stated: “In a short while, an extremely important bill for the security of the State of Israel is expected to come up for a vote; it will prevent the Red Cross from visiting Nukhba terrorists.”
Hamas’s Nukhba forces led the charge during the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attacks in Israel’s south, in which some 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians, were massacred, thousands were wounded and 251 were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Katz in his comments accused the Red Cross of “assisting these despicable terrorists during their visits, smuggling goods and equipment inside, and undermining Israel’s legitimacy.”
Shas tied its support for the Red Cross ban to the coalition passing a proposed Basic Law that would enshrine Torah study as a fundamental state value, which could broaden military conscription exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshivah students.
“Shas supports the bill to prevent the Red Cross from visiting Nukhba terrorists. We proposed to [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir that the bill be brought to a vote on Wednesday, so that we could support it immediately after the Basic Law on Torah Study is approved, as agreed with the coalition chairman,” the Haredi party stated.
“Unfortunately, Ben-Gvir insisted on bringing the bill to a vote today,” it charged.
Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ruled unanimously on June 3 that the government must allow the Red Cross to visit Palestinian terrorists.
Justice Dafna Barak-Erez said the government had failed to present a legal basis to justify its blanket ban on ICRC visits, which was initially introduced in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre.
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.
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, 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.”
