A new bill introduced by the Ministry of Justice on Sunday would prohibit illegal immigrants from sending money overseas. It imposes up to six months in jail and approximately NIS 29,000 in fines for violators.
Ministry sources explained that the proposed legislation is meant to combat financial incentives for undocumented migrants to enter the country illegally.
The law would not apply to refugees, reported Israel Radio.
In related news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Defense Ministry officials on Sunday to speed up construction work on a border fence between Israel and Egypt. The porous boundary provides the crossing point for the vast majority of African migrants entering the country.
At the meeting, Interior Ministry officials presented data indicating that the number of illegal border crossings into Israel was halved from May to June of this year.
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In May, demonstrators rallied in southern Tel Aviv for the deportation of the estimated 60,000-70,000 illegal immigrants that are currently in the country. At one such protest, MK Miri Regev (Likud) proclaimed that Sudanese migrants are “a cancer in the body of the nation.”
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