New Promise from Israeli Justice Minister: Expulsion of All Refugees After Elections

Ayelet Shaked, Israel's Minister of Justice, promised that after the elections, all foreign refugees who have come to the country in recent years will be "expelled voluntarily or by force." According to the Haaretz newspaper, Ms. Shaked stated on Tuesday, April 2, during a speech to supporters of the "New Right" party, which she leads, that the upcoming Israeli government, to be formed after next week's elections, will expel all foreign migrants. Ms. Shaked specifically emphasized the expulsion of African refugees from Israel; according to her, the next government will not heed the Supreme Court's rulings that impose restrictions on the expulsion of refugees. Ms. Shaked, who hopes to remain in her position as Minister of Justice in the next government, considers changing the composition of the senior judges of the Supreme Court as one of the strategies to alter its rulings. She stated that the "New Right" party will be decisive in coalition government negotiations regarding the expulsion of migrants. Ms. Shaked added that the Israeli government will continue to seek third countries willing to accept these migrants, but she did not mention any specific country. Last year, Benjamin Netanyahu's government reached an agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to grant legal residency to half of the migrants, about 16,000 people, while, with the help of the Commissioner, 16,250 other migrants would be expelled to Western countries, especially Canada, Germany, and Italy. However, Netanyahu unilaterally canceled this agreement just one day later due to internal opposition in the country. According to Haaretz, while Netanyahu and his ministers have continuously promised to expel migrants during this election campaign, last year's agreement remains in effect according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. All Israeli governments, since the establishment of the country, have only allowed Jews from around the world to live and obtain citizenship, and have only granted work and residency permits to a limited number of foreign migrants in specific cases. According to Haaretz, out of approximately 33,000 migrants from Eritrea and Sudan, Israel has recognized only 12 as refugees. The Jewish Nation-State Law, passed last year, emphasizes that Israel is a country exclusively for the Jewish people; this law, according to claims by about two million Arabs living in the land, has turned them into second-class citizens. In recent years, Israel has managed to prevent the entry of more migrants from African countries by constructing a wall along its southern border with Egypt, and nearly all migrants whose fate has recently been in the news arrived in Israel before the wall was completed. The Israeli government claims its treatment of migrants is "like Switzerland," but a report from the Knesset Research Center published on April 1 emphasizes that between 2013 and 2017, Switzerland and Denmark accepted 73 to 85 percent of requests from migrants from Eritrea and Sudan. Haaretz wrote that "Israel's response to migrants is always 'no,' and only the justification differs." According to the Israeli Minister of Justice, migrants from Sudan and Eritrea have had negative impacts on the living conditions and society of the country, particularly affecting the southern parts of cities like Tel Aviv. Ayelet Shaked, who recently stated in a campaign with the symbolic scent of "fascism" that fascism for her is the same as the aroma of democracy, added that the next government should not allow the children of migrants to study alongside their Israeli peers and that until their expulsion, they and their families should be educated in separate schools. Representatives from the southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, which predominantly vote for right-wing parties, have stated that they are tired of "the false promises of ministers to expel migrants."