Rivlin expresses support for migrant deportation plan

President Rivlin expresses his support for the government’s plan to expel African migrants from the country.

“I think the government’s decisions are very meaningful and logical even when they go against emotion,” says Rivlin.

“The poor of our nation come before the poor of another [nation],” he says, while adding that as a “moral nation” Israel should “extend a hand to refugees.”

There are an estimated 40,000 African asylum seekers in Israel, many of them from Eritrea and Sudan. Under the plan, those who leave voluntarily by the end of March will receive $3,500 and a plane ticket to an unnamed third country in Africa. Those still in the country by April 1 will be imprisoned or forcibly expelled.