Herzog on anti-deportation campaigns: It’s not George Soros, Bibi

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog rejects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that Jewish billionaire George Soros is behind the campaign opposing the mass deportation of African migrants from Israel.

“It isn’t George Soros, Bibi,” says Herzog at the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting. “It is the natural sense of justice that pulsates in the hearts of many Israelis who believe in human dignity.”

Herzog says he held consultations with numerous experts on the issue. He says Israeli researchers who recently visited Uganda and Rwanda — the two countries where Israel is said to be sending the migrants, most of whom are from Eritrea and Sudan — “and their conclusion was that these states do not have the sufficient infrastructure to uphold the state commitments to the High Court of Justice.”

Herzog urges the government to halt the plan and closely study the issue before taking action.

— Marissa Newman