The Knesset's Health Committee discussed the shortage of blood donations on Tuesday, brought on by the spread of the Omicron variant and boycotts by ultra-Orthodox yeshivas.
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Donations dropped from an average of 1,100 units per day to roughly 600-700 daily units, leading to several hospitals delaying elective surgeries.
Prof. Eilat Shinar, the head of Magen David Adom's blood services, attributes the drop to the wave of infections brought on by the omicron variant, as some 1.5 million Israelis have been infected since the beginning of the year.
However, another contributing factor is the boycott by ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, protesting the changes made to the donation forms that aimed to accommodate the LGBT community.
Instead of asking for the donor's mother and father, the form now asks for "parent 1" and "parent 2," upsetting many ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The question was since dropped from the form.
