Anti-Immigrant Law Struck Down by Israel High Court
An expanded Israeli panel of nine High Court of Justice judges has unanimously voted to strike down controversial legislation that allowed Israel to detain illegal migrants for three years without trial.
The judges ruled that the amendment to the Law for Prevention of Infiltration is unconstitutional and violates the right to liberty.
The amendment went into effect in June 2012.
Some 2,000 African migrants are currently held in Israeli detention centers, 1,750 of whom are detained as per the law. The court asserted that the state must immediately begin to examine each case individually. The judges set a 90-day deadline for the examination process.
Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin blasted the ruling, calling it a “crazy” decision that will undermine Israel’s status as a Jewish state.
“The Knesset has to pass this law anew, and put an end to the High Court’s activism, which is being instigated without any authority,” he said.
For more, go to Haaretz
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO