Likud MK’s ‘anti-African stance’ incurs wrath of youth group Down Under

The Australian branch of the right-wing Jewish youth group Betar slammed Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Danny Danon’s anti-migrant rhetoric and demanded the government reconsider its current immigration policy.

The statements from Down Under are likely to embarrass the Likud lawmaker and former chairman of the Betar World executive — who last year declared the African migrants in Israel should be deported to Australia.

“Recently we have seen a number of attacks on African migrants living in Israel. Regardless of their status in the country, these attacks have come as a shock and an embarrassment to us as Jews,” officials from Betar Australia wrote in an open letter to Danon this week, as Israeli authorities continued to round up South Sudanese asylum seekers. “However, your words in regard to the ‘national plague’ [as African migrants are commonly referred] have greatly upset us as Betarim.”

Founded in 1923 by Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Betar is traditionally linked to the Likud party, to which Danon belongs.

Danon, who chairs the Knesset caucus dealing with the “problem of infiltrators,” is one of the politicians most vociferously calling for the immediate deportation of the African migrants, and has been quoted calling them a “national plague.” He also introduced a bill that, if passed, would force the Interior Ministry to deport 50 percent of illegal migrants within one year, and 80% within two years.

“We are all united on the issue that we have to remove all the illegal infiltrators from Israel before it’s too late,” Danon reiterated Tuesday after a meeting of the caucus.

‘We do expect for the political establishment in Israel to act decently and to approach this issue humanely, without prejudice and to acknowledge the responsibilities that Israel has towards refugees’

The Australian Betar officials wrote in the letter that they respect Danon for his various political positions and that they attach much importance to the idea of maintaining a Jewish majority in Israel. “We do acknowledge the complexities related to the influx of African migrants, and we are not trying to mandate a policy to you from the other side of the world,” the letter states. “However we believe that you need to urgently reassess your policy in regards of some of the important ideological principles held by Betar and Ze’ev Jabotinsky.”

“Israel desperately needs to develop policy to deal with this crisis and to deal with it humanely,” the Betarim from Australia wrote. “However, as Jews and Betarim we do expect for the political establishment in Israel to act decently and to approach this issue humanely, without prejudice and to acknowledge the responsibilities that Israel has towards refugees,” they wrote, referring to the fact that Israel is a signatory of United Nations Refugee Convention and Protocol.

“As Betarim, we urge you to reconsider your stance regarding these people and we request that you ensure that Israel fairly determines who needs protection and offers them this,” the letter continues. “To deport people to persecution and danger is not the act of a Jewish State. Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years and their state should not be one that has a hand in leading others to suffer the same fate.”

The African asylum seekers are “just as human as us,” the letter continues. “In fact, in their present state, they are unmistakably similar to us as Jews. We have always been refugees; our ancestors have been refugees since the destruction of the First Temple up to our grandparents, who fled a climax of persecution around the world.” Former prime minister Menachem Begin saw this when he allowed Vietnamese refugees to settle in Israel and even granted them citizenship, the Australian Betar officials wrote.

Last year, Danon proposed that Australia take in the African refugees currently in Israel. “Since Australia has a policy of accepting refugees and groups under protection, I would appreciate it if you could promote a solution in which Australia would accept those who seeking refuge,” Danon wrote to Australian parliament member Michael Danby after meeting him in Jerusalem.

Danon holds the post of chair of the Knesset Committee for Aliya, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.