High Court to hear petition on Israeli refugee cap next week

The High Court says it will hear a petition against Israel’s policy regarding Ukrainian refugees in a week, rejecting the state’s request to throw the case out.

On Sunday night, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced that people who are fleeing Ukraine who have relatives in Israel will be exempt from a 25,000-person entry cap placed on those refugees who are not eligible for Israeli citizenship.

Shaked’s announcement came after news that attorney Tomer Warsha had filed — on behalf of Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk — a petition to the High Court against the interior minister’s earlier policy, which counted those ineligible for citizenship against the cap, which also includes 20,000 Ukrainians already in Israel.

Warsha, an attorney specializing in immigration, said Sunday evening that Shaked’s new policy was a positive change, but not enough.

According to reports, the state told the court that the cap would not be met for a week, meaning the issue won’t become relevant until then.

Speaking to Kan, Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar backs Shaked’s decision to allow in more Ukrainians. But he appears to chafe at the description of those fleeing to Israel’s borders as “refugees,” which he says carries “certain legal ramifications.”

“Israel is sheltering those who need it, it’s the humane, correct thing to do,” he says, “and that’s what Israel has done the last two weeks.”

According to statistics published by the Population and Border Authority on Sunday morning, 7,179 Ukrainian nationals have arrived in Israel since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, and 221 were refused entry. The statistics included those who are immigrating and who are eligible to do so under the Law of Return, which grants citizenship to anyone with one Jewish grandparent.