The Knesset on Monday voted down a bill to ban Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners in its first reading, after Haredi parties boycotted the vote.

The bill was supported by 36 MKs and opposed by 41. Haredi lawmakers have been boycotting coalition votes in protest over its failure to pass bills that are key to their own agenda.

The proposal now cannot be brought to a vote again for the next six months, meaning another vote will not be held before general elections that must be held by late October.

Far-right National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who has authority over the Israel Prison Service and repeatedly boasted of the harsh conditions he has imposed on Palestinian detainees and prisoners, lashed out at the Haredi Shas party for boycotting the vote, blaming its leader Aryeh Deri for the bill’s failure to advance.

“Thanks to you the Nukba will be rewarded with Red Cross visits in prison,” Ben Gvir wrote on X, referring to the Hamas commando force. “How can you sleep at night?” Shas hit back by saying that Israelis want “security in the streets, not tweets.”

Due to the ultra-Orthodox boycott,........

© The Times of Israel