Government to blame
Photo: Yaron Brener
Yoaz Hendel
Israel’s migrant fiasco
Op-ed: Infiltrators aren’t at fault for seeking better life; government to blame for mishandling problem
Shavuot is the holiday of the converts and job seekers. Ruth the Moabite arrived here in search of work and ended up finding an Israelite ID card and a husband from a distinguished family.
Gov't Statements
Cabinet meets on Ammunition Hill in honor of Jerusalem Day. Netanyahu says government increasing efforts to stop flow of African migrants. Yishai: Giving them jobs won't help
This is a beautiful story that teaches us about receiving foreigners and others in Judaism. Yet in practice, reality is different.
We don’t know how to properly take in the converts because of the ultra-Orthodox monopoly, and we don’t know how to curb the flow of work migrants and deport them because of hypocrisy and short-sightedness.
The riots against the migrants from Africa are ugly, and the statements uttered by certain politicians are even uglier and more dangerous. It is not the migrants who are at fault here. Naturally, they are following the money and comfort.
We need decision-makers
The culprit here is the government, which has woken up only after seeing screaming newspaper headlines. The State is at fault, for informing the High Court of Justice that it will no longer follow the practice of returning refugees to Egypt right after they are nabbed.
Indeed, the infiltrators do not arrive in southern Tel Aviv on their own; the authorities transport them.
This issue did not start during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s term in office. He received a problematic inheritance, and to his credit we shall note that he accelerated the construction of a fence on the Egypt border meant to curb the flow of migrants. However, Netanyahu does continue the practice of lacking a clear policy.
On Thursday we read reports about a plan to deploy a Border Guard platoon in southern Tel Aviv to contend with the surging violence. That’s a rather creative idea. Now, we need a platoon of decision-makers to be deployed in Jerusalem.
