By World Israel News Staff
Israel’s defense chief on Wednesday banned members of the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting with jailed Arab terrorists, citing security concerns.
According to a statement by the Israeli Defense Ministry, the decision was made based on recommendations presented by the Shin Bet security agency and after Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) was convinced that allowing such visits would endanger state security.
The blanket ban prohibits ICRC officials from meeting with the thousands of Arab terrorists held in custody under the Law on the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants, including thousands of detainees captured during or after October 7, 2023.
Those detainees include terrorists directly involved in the Oct. 7 massacres.
“The opinions presented to me indicate without any doubt that visits by the Red Cross to the terrorists in prison would seriously harm the security of the state,” said Katz. “The security of the state and of our citizens comes before everything else.”
The decision comes following pressure from within the government and the leadership of Israel’s prison system not to permit the ICRC visits.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has lobbied for a ban on the ICRC visits, a position supported by the Israel Prison Service and its commissioner, Kobi Yaakobi.
In contrast, the National Security Council had opposed a sweeping ban on the ICRC visits, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly backing the NSC’s position.
Netanyahu and the NSC had reportedly favored allowing the ICRC some visitation rights, considering the group a less overtly hostile alternative to United Nations-linked agencies that have also demanded third-party visits to jailed Arab terrorists.
