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Netanyahu clashes with left-wing US Jews over migrants, Gaza

The latest actions by Israel’s right-wing government are further straining historically bipartisan support in Congress.
African migrants walk behind a fence as they leave Holot detention centre in Israel's southern Negev desert August 25, 2015. Israel on Tuesday began releasing some 1,200 African migrants whom it has interned for more than a year in the detention centre. Under the terms of their release, they are banned from living or working in Tel Aviv and the southern resort city of Eilat, which both have large migrant communities. Two weeks ago, Israelís Supreme Court reduced from 20 months to 12 months the period of tim

Israel’s pending expulsion of thousands of African asylum seekers and violent suppression of Palestinian protesters is further straining ties between the country’s right-wing government and left-wing US Jewish groups, potentially undermining bipartisan support for Israel in Congress.

Leading American Jewish organizations and Democratic lawmakers have expressed dismay at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to go forward with plans to deport thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants. Meanwhile, more liberal groups and a handful of progressive Democrats have accused the Israeli military of overreacting by using live fire against Hamas-inspired protesters at the border with Gaza.

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