In a recent meeting held on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a reduced group of ministers to address the aftermath of riots involving hundreds of Eritrean asylum seekers in Tel Aviv. The discussion was as contentious as the topic itself. Among the ministers in attendance were Yariv Levin, Itamar Ben Gvir, and State Attorney Amit Isman.
Itamar Ben Gvir, the Minister for National Security, proposed that all detainees—a list numbering 52 individuals—be moved to the administrative track, a proposal that would demand a lower evidentiary standard for detention. This suggestion found legal concurrence. However, other recommendations, such as limiting the asylum seekers' place of residence to North Tel Aviv, encountered resistance and were rejected outright. The chic northern part of the coastal city is often thought of as the base for liberal movements in Israel, with many of the organizers and protesters against the government having residences there. The suggestion was made my Levin & Ben Gvir as tongue-in-cheek, but was taken seriously by the panel.
THE RIGHT THING TO DO: Levin, Ben Gvir said to suggest forcibly moving VIOLENT Eritrean migrants to north Tel Aviv the protection of our citizens number one priority despite outrage from woke countries who dont give a xxxx about their citi https://t.co/wFjYMMncDU via @GoogleNews
— thepeoplesnews (@thepeoplesnews8) September 4, 2023
Yariv Levin fired back, questioning the High Court's stance on deportation. He accused the judiciary of being detached from the realities on the ground, asking why asylum seekers could not be sent back to their countries of origin. Amit Isman, State Attorney, clarified that deportation was an unlikely solution given that no country would agree to take them in, especially if they were facing criminal proceedings.
Amid this backdrop, one decisive action was taken by Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Minister of the Negev, the Galilee and National Resilience. Wasserlauf approved a transfer of NIS 20 million to a unit within the Ministry of the Interior responsible for the voluntary transfer of asylum seekers to third countries—a significant increase from its earlier budget of just NIS 3 million.
Netanyahu announces the deportation of hundreds of Eritrean migrants after they culturally enriched Tel Aviv over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/JjEGnqqgGM
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 4, 2023
This recent discussion has inevitably resurrected questions about Netanyahu's stance on asylum seekers, particularly given the fact that the Prime Minister is being accused by those in the opposition to have forgotten his prior commitments. The allegations stem from the fact that two years ago, Netanyahu publicly announced a groundbreaking outline under the United Nations' auspices that would have seen half of the asylum seekers transferred to third countries, while allowing the remainder to gain temporary resident status in Israel.
However, this agreement soon encountered a maelstrom of backlash from his own base over the thought that some asylum seekers would remain in Israel. The Prime Minister faced a deluge of criticism from the right-wing and even Likud party members, labeling him as "weak" and "submissive." Netanyahu’s own son, Yair, added fuel to the fire by endorsing a social media post that deemed the agreement "a disgrace to the State of Israel."
Within half a day, under mounting pressure, Netanyahu froze and subsequently rejected the deal he had earlier described as "an unprecedented agreement" and an "indescribable achievement." He explained the abrupt turnaround by stating that the third country involved had reneged under pressure.
Eritrean migrants involved in violent clashes should be deported, Israel’s Netanyahu says https://t.co/Q6N27QW6cB via @nbcnews
— Hello 2 You (@m4s1w7) September 3, 2023
What emerges, according to those in the opposition, is a picture of a leader willing to backpedal from earlier commitments when political expediency demands it. Netanyahu's denied recently that he ever endorsed the UN agreement, and this, according to his critics, amounts to an overt rewriting of history. A source familiar with the details of the initial UN agreement noted that Netanyahu had been ecstatic about what he saw as a significant milestone, only to reverse his stance when political pressures mounted.
Opposition leaders have come out strong against the Netanyahu administration's handling of the crisis with Lapid writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday: “This government promised to handle the immigration crisis. As usual with them, the situation only got worse and chaos reigns. We dealt with it quietly, without grand statements, recognizing the complexity of the issue. This government is not functioning. After it departs, we will bring back to the table the UN deal that Netanyahu accepted and then canceled due to pressure from the ‘base.’ This will remove most of the labor migrants from South Tel Aviv who are not facing a life-threatening situation.”
>> זה יוציא מדרום תל אביב את מרבית מהגרי העבודה אשר להם לא נשקפת סכנת חיים.
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) September 2, 2023
Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition’s National Unity party, seemingly backed the Prime Minister without actually going as far to say as much. The former Defense Minister said in a statement: “What happened today on the streets of Tel Aviv is not a legitimate protest, but grave violence.
“The law must be enforced against the rioters, order must be restored, and lessons must be learned from this event and the overall failure under the current government. All this must be done without disregarding the need to formulate a policy that will address the issue of asylum seekers in the long term.” Gantz has expressed a desire to revisit the UN agreement if and when he is in a position to do so in the future.
