Poll: 40% Israelis support deporting infiltrators

Liberman: Public discourse on migrants makes it more difficult to send them back to their home countries.

By BEN HARTMAN, LAHAV HARKOV
Man holding anti-migrant sign 370 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger/Israel Post)
Man holding anti-migrant sign 370
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger/Israel Post)
Forty percent of the Israeli public believes in the deportation of all of the ‘infiltrators’ in Israel to their homelands, while 34% said Israel should only deport those whose lives would not be in danger if they were returned to their countries.
The figures, released in a poll compiled by the Knesset TV channel, also found that 86% of the public believes that the government is the most to blame for Israel’s inability to stop the migrants from entering the country.
Only 11% of Israelis believe that the migrants should be given legal work visas, a solution that some have proposed for solving the social problems and crime arising from the migrant population.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said the public discourse on migrants makes it more difficult to send them back to their home countries, during a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“Arrangements can be made with [migrants’] home countries, even if it costs a lot of money, but it must be done quietly,” Liberman explained.
“The public atmosphere is making it more difficult to reach an arrangement,” Lieberman added, in reference to violent protests in south Tel Aviv and provocative statements by MKs.
Liberman also said that there is an “industry” paying for migrants to illegally enter Israel, and that there cannot be a solution to the problem without cooperation with Eritrea, South Sudan and other countries from which migrants traveled to Israel.
The foreign minister also made a dig at MK Arieh Eldad (National Union), saying that "anyone who thinks we can just shoot [migrants] as they cross the border is mistaken."