Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled an agreement with the United Nations on Tuesday to resettle thousands of African migrants after pressure from hawks in his coalition prompted him earlier to suspend it.
Netanyahu had announced on national TV that Israel had agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of tens of thousands of African
migrants. Under the deal, roughly half of the 35,000 migrants living in Israel would be resettled in the West — including Canada. But the rest would stay in Israel.
But just hours later he reversed course, saying he was putting it on hold.
After meeting with residents Netanyahu said he had weighed the pros and cons and he “decided to cancel the agreement.” The move came after pressure from Netanyahu’s nationalist allies who lashed out against the deal.
Canada still on board to resettle asylum seekers
Despite the shift, Canada says its still on track to resettle nearly 1,800 asylum seekers in Israel.
As of Dec., 31 2017, there were 1,845 refugee applications in the process and Canada is still working to finalize them, a spokesperson told Global News.
“All those who have requested asylum or immigration status in Canada will be protected in Israel until Canadian procedures are finished,” a spokesperson stated in an email.
WATCH: Canada condemns Israel for deporting asylum seekers
Deal ‘is bad for Israel’
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Naftali Bennett, leader of the nationalist Jewish Home party, tweeted shortly before Netanyahu’s statement nullifying the deal that the agreement “is bad for Israel.”
He said “it’s not enough to suspend it, I call on the prime minister to cancel it completely. Its approval would cause generations of crying and determine a precedent in Israel granting residency for illegal infiltrators.”
Netanyahu had announced Monday afternoon that Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of the migrants. The deal called for sending about half of the 35,000 African migrants to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.
Dozens of migrants and their Israeli supporters protested the suspension outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem and government offices in Tel Aviv as Netanyahu met with the neighbourhood representatives.
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Some protesters stripped to the waist, draped themselves with chains and taped their mouths shut at a protest in Tel Aviv. Others waved signs reading “Human lives are not to play with. Yes to the deal.”
Protester Daniella Elyashar called on Netanyahu to “stop this political game.” Another protester, Veronika Cohen, said “yesterday we were in tears of joy and this morning just in tears.”
Hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition strongly criticized the deal for allowing thousands of Africans to remain after the prime minister announced it.
WATCH: Thousands of African migrants protest outside Israeli parliament
Labour Party leader Avi Gabbay slammed the sudden turnaround on Army Radio questioning if defence decisions are also made in the same manner.
“It is sad, troubling and even a little scary that decisions are made that way,” Gabbay said. He accused Netanyahu of leadership based on polls and comments on social media.
Israeli commentators slammed Netanyahu for folding to pressure.
Writing in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Sima Kadmon noted Netanyahu’s decision “lasted for just six hours and 45 minutes” before “an important and courageous decision by the prime minister was trampled under the boots of the right wing divisions.”
Most of the African migrants are from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea, the latter having one of the world’s worst human rights records. The migrants say they are asylum-seekers fleeing danger and persecution, while Israeli leaders have claimed they are merely job seekers.
The Africans started arriving in 2005 after neighbouring Egypt violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the porous desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.
Thousands of African migrants are concentrated in neighbourhoods in south Tel Aviv, where ethnic food shops and phone card stalls line the streets, and the area has become known as “Little Africa.” This has sparked tension with the working-class Jewish residents who have been putting pressure on the government to find a solution.
WATCH: Dramatic video shows rescue of migrants from sinking boat
Residents complained the agreement doesn’t address their needs and demanded assurances that remaining migrants will be dispersed around the country as promised.
The prime minister’s turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade. The deportation plan had been widely criticized at home and abroad, even by some of Israel’s closest supporters.
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