Bibi Calls African Immigration Key Threat
The surge of illegal African migrants into Israel “threatens national security and identity,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“If we do not stop this, 60,000 infiltrators could become 600,000 and possibly even jeopardize Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish democracy,” Netanyahu said Sunday at the weekly Cabinet meeting.
He said Israel was working to prevent more migrants from entering Israel, pointing to the construction of a border fence between Israel and Egypt from where most of the migrants enter. Netanyahu also said the government was working to deport the illegal migrants.
His comments come less than a week after Interior Minister Eli Yishai told Army Radio that most African migrants in Israel are involved in criminal activity and should be imprisoned and deported to their countries of origin.
There are more than 50,000 African migrants and asylum seekers in Tel Aviv alone, according to government reports. Most entered through the border with Sinai.
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.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.