Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Gov. Proposes Ignoring Supreme Court, Deporting Illegal Migrants

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has proposed an amendment that would allow illegal immigrants to be deported without their consent, contradicting the Supreme Court.

The proposal, which reportedly is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, comes days after the court ruled Monday that the government cannot hold migrants for more than 60 days and that they can only be deported with their consent.

The measure adding to the existing laws on illegal migrants could be voted on as early as Sunday.

On Thursday, Netanyahu visited South Tel Aviv, which is home to thousands of African migrants.

“We are here on a mission to give back South Tel Aviv to the Israeli residents,” he told reporters. “I’ve heard the residents, and what I hear is pain and crisis.

Culture Minister Miri Regev accompanied Netanyahu.

“The residents of South Tel Aviv are the ones who became refugees in their own country,” she said.

Regev railed against the illegal employment of the migrants, who are referred to by detractors and some lawmakers as “infiltrators,” and the overcrowding of apartments with them.

The migrants have been accused of entering the country as economic immigrants, not asylum seekers who fear for their lives.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.