Israel's betrayal of African refugees
Israel's right-wing government is set on expelling African illegal immigrants, who face great danger in their home and host countries.
It is well-known that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people a condition for peace with the Palestinians. The prime minister’s speeches are saturated with quotes from Jewish literature and history. The nationality bill that Netanyahu tirelessly promotes is meant to fortify the identity of the state of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. To protect the Jewish majority, Netanyahu has invested hundreds of millions of shekels in closing the southern border of Israel to refugees and economic migrants from Africa. That same state of the Jews, which was created to be a safe haven for Jewish refugees, today sends refugees to their death. And that is just for starters.
On Dec. 11, the Knesset plenum passed, by a 71-41 vote, a law that would deport and imprison thousands of refugees living in Israel. This month, Netanyahu directed the National Security Council to formulate a plan to forcibly deport those refugees who refuse to “voluntarily be removed.” That is, the fate is sealed even for those who prefer living in an Israeli prison to dying somewhere in Africa.
