Thousands of people protested against Israel‘s plans to deport African migrants at a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
At the same time, there was a smaller protest, numbering in the dozens, who rallied for the deportation of the migrants.
Israel began in early February to hand out notices to 20 000 male African migrants giving them two months to leave the country or risk being thrown in jail.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government is offering the migrants, most of whom are from Sudan and Eritrea, $3 500 and a plane ticket to what it says is a safe destination in another country in sub-Saharan Africa.
The fate of some 37 000 Africans in Israel is posing a moral dilemma for a state founded as haven for Jews from persecution and a national home. The right-wing government is under pressure from its nationalist voter base to expel the migrants, while others are calling for them to be taken in.
The government says the migrants are “infiltrators” looking for work rather than asylum, but there is a growing liberal backlash against the plan, including from rabbis, a small group of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and ordinary people who say Israel should show greater compassion to the migrants.
