Israel stopped issuing visas to international aid organizations, National Security Council admits

Palestinians waiting to receive humanitarian aid, in Gaza, August 2024

Noa Shpigel reports on Haaretz on 13 September 2024:

Nechama Pearl, a representative from Israel’s National Security Council, told a confidential Knesset meeting on Thursday that the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry has decided not to issue any more visas to employees of international aid organizations, according to sources present at the meeting.

The sources said that at a meeting of the subcommittee on West Bank Affairs at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Pearl said that the Welfare Ministry claims that it has no means to examine or supervise the organizations’ applications.

According to the sources, Pearl said that the National Security Council is working on implementing a government decision to form an inter-ministerial team, along with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, tasked with choosing which applications to approve.

The team will reportedly include representatives from several agencies, including the Shin Bet security agency, the police, and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

Haaretz reported in February that the Population and Immigration Authority refused to issue work visas to international non-governmental aid organizations operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, citing an ongoing reorganization of the visa issuance procedure.

As a result of this, dozens of people, mostly from Western countries, were forced to leave their jobs or were unable to return to Israel to their offices in East Jerusalem or Ramallah, and new employees were unable to take begin their jobs.

The Welfare Ministry said at the time, that, long before October 7, it sought an exemption from the responsibility of issuing visas, because its employees lacked the relevant expertise and were not in that “content world.” The ministry said that its decision was not politically motivated.  Thursday’s meeting at the subcommittee was the fifth to be convened by its chairman MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) on the subject of aid organizations. It was held under the title, “Incitement activity by outside parties in Judea and Samaria.”

At the start of the discussion, part of which was open to the public, Sukkot said, “Israel is in an existential war. War in 2024 isn’t like war in 1967. War on the public diplomacy and legitimization front is closely linked to the ability to wage war in the field.”  He added, “Anarchists understand this well, which is why they invest immense efforts to maximize delegitimization of Israel in wartime. They come to live in the territory and engage from morning to night in trolling and harassing in order to take pictures that will libel IDF soldiers and settlers all over the world. Regrettably, they have operated for years [with no opposition] with resounding success.”

“The time has come to wage war like it is waged in 2024, and to use all the legal means available to us to stop this phenomenon,” Sukkot added.

The National Security Council said in response, “The National Security Council does not comment on leaks and quotes from confidential Knesset committees.”

The Welfare Ministry said in response, “The Population and Immigration Authority issues visas to work and volunteer in Israel at the recommendation of the Welfare Ministry. In view of the complex security situation after October 7, it was decided to transfer the responsibility to the National Security Council, and we are working with our colleagues at the relevant ministries to complete the process.”

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