Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened a discussion yesterday (Sunday), of a special ministers team, to examine the way of handling law-breaking infiltrators - this following the incidents of violence and disorder that occurred on Saturday in Tel Aviv. In his words, he called for strong measures to be taken against the rioters, including the possibility of deportation from the country.
"The massive illegal infiltration into Israel from Africa posed a real threat to Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state," Netanyahu said. "We curbed this threat by building the fence; building the fence involved overcoming resistance from the security establishment and political opponents. When we curbed it, we stopped the infiltration completely, and I am proud that the governments under my leadership did that."
According to him, "there remains a problem of those who have already entered before the completion of the fence, these are several tens of thousands of illegal infiltrators who entered Israel. We removed 12 thousand of them voluntarily, by various incentives and numerous measures. We wanted more, we proposed a series of measures, including the recent deposit, and unfortunately all were rejected by the High Court."
"One thing we didn't propose, and it's a good thing we didn't propose it, is the UN outline," the Prime Minister continued. "The UN outline would have naturalized 16 thousand illegal infiltrators, and would have created a tremendous incentive for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Africans who would infiltrate the State of Israel again, so it is a bad solution. Whoever proposes this, proposes something that will return the problem to its original state."
"Now there remains a serious problem with the illegal infiltrators in South Tel Aviv and elsewhere, but yesterday was a red-line crossing. This is a riot, this is bloodshed, these are riots that we cannot accept. Therefore, I first wish healthy recovery to the policemen who were injured during the attempts to restore order."
"We are asking for strong measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part in it. I have a hard time understanding why we would have a problem with those who declare that they themselves are supporters of the regime, and therefore they certainly cannot make a refugee claim," Netanyahu concluded. "I also request that this forum prepare a complete and updated plan for the removal of all other illegal infiltrators from the State of Israel, and that is the purpose of this gathering today."