, Columnist
Israel's Conscience and 35,000 Migrants
Deportation of North Africans has stirred a passionate conversation about the values a Jewish state must stand for.
They have allies.
Photographer: Ben Guez/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Earlier this week, the Israeli government officially began notifying thousands of North African immigrants and asylum seekers that they are now going to be forced to leave the country.
These migrants, who came to Israel illegally, are being offered $3,500 plus a plane ticket to depart; those who refuse to leave “voluntarily” will be jailed, the government's Population and Immigration Authority has said. What the government has not told these presumptive deportees, who migrated to Israel via Egypt years ago across a then poorly guarded border, is where they will be sent.