Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened a special team of ministers on Sunday morning to discuss what measures could be taken against the Eritreans who engaged in violent clashes and attacked police on Shabbos.

At the beginning of the meeting, Netanyahu said that “the massive illegal infiltration into Israel from Africa constituted a real threat to the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. We curbed this threat by building the fence. The construction of the fence involved overcoming opposition from the security establishment and political opponents. We stopped the infiltration completely, and I’m proud that the government under my leadership accomplished that.”

“There remains a problem of those who had already entered before the completion of the fence. There are tens of thousands of illegal infiltrators who entered the country. We removed 12,000 of them voluntarily through various incentives and measures. We wanted more, we proposed a series of measures, including the recent deposit law, and unfortunately, they were all rejected by the Supreme Court”.

“There remains a serious problem with the illegal infiltrators in south Tel Aviv and in other places, but what happened yesterday was the crossing of a red line. This is a riot, this is bloodshed, we cannot accept this.”

“Therefore, we’re asking for strong measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part in it. I find it difficult to understand why we would have a problem with those who declare that they themselves are supporters of the regime – they certainly cannot make a claim of being refugees.”

“I also request that this forum prepare a complete and updated plan for the removal of all other illegal infiltrators from the State of Israel, and that is the purpose of this gathering today.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)