Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan ordered a freeze on all visits to Palestinian Arab security prisoners following the spread of the Coronavirus in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas.
Minister Erdan said that "stopping the visits to prisons is a necessary and committed reality. Corona's arrival in the prisons could cause mass incarceration of prisoners with the disease and we must do our utmost to prevent such a scenario from materializing."
Earlier, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone Sunday with US Vice President Mike Pence. The two agreed that follow-up talks will be held in the coming hours between the Israeli team on dealing with the Coronavirus and the American team, with the participation of White House Coronavirus coordinator Dr. Deborah L. Birx.
The talks will be held in order to advance technological and scientific cooperation on the issue of the Coronavirus and to discuss joint ways of dealing with the challenges posed by the virus.