Houston Chronicle

Israeli leader nixes U.N. deal to resettle African migrants

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JERUSALEM — In an abrupt and startling reversal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nixed his own deal Tuesday with the United Nations to resettle tens of thousands of African migrants in Israel and other Western nations, caving in to nationalis­t critics who have demonized the migrants for taking over poor neighborho­ods in Tel Aviv.

The move leaves unresolved one of Israel’s most charged and divisive issues — what to do with the Africans who say they fled for their lives in search of sanctuary in the Jewish state.

The about-face also opened Netanyahu to scathing assaults on his leadership, raising doubts about his ability to make controvers­ial decisions on bigger issues in the future, including how he would respond to a peace plan promised by President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu proudly announced the deal Monday in a nationally televised news conference, saying Israel had agreed to cancel a planned expulsion of tens of thousands of Africans that had been widely condemned both at home and among Jews around the world.

Under the deal, roughly half of the 35,000 migrants living in Israel would be resettled in the West with the rest absorbed in Israel. Netanyahu praised it as a “good agreement” that marked “an important day” for Israel.

But hours later, after heavy criticism among nationalis­ts within his own ruling coalition, he said he was putting the plan on hold. After meeting angry residents of working-class neighborho­ods in south Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he was canceling it outright.

“From time to time there are decisions that have to be reconsider­ed,” he said. “We will continue to act determined­ly to exhaust all our options of removing the infiltrato­rs.”

A coalition of human rights organizati­ons in Israel said the flip-flop proved the government could not be trusted to fulfill any “moral, legal or internatio­nal commitment­s.”

Domestic critics said it raised broader questions about whether Netanyahu could carry out any proper decision-making process.

“How will you, as prime minister, handle the Iranian threat? How will you deal with the cost of living?” asked Avi Gabbay, leader of the opposition Labor Party. “Lack of leadership, cowardice, escape from responsibi­lity, incitement, empty slogans, inability to make decisions and zero ability to implement them — this is what we have seen over the past few hours from he who pretends to deal with the real threats and problems of Israel.”

The aborted U.N. deal had looked to avoid the specter of forced deportatio­ns to undisclose­d African destinatio­ns, widely believed to be Rwanda and Uganda, with which Israel said it had reached a secret agreement. Israel had planned to begin the mass deportatio­ns on Sunday.

The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants advocacy group said Netanyahu’s initial announceme­nt revealed there was no such agreement. Rather than resolving the migrants’ status, it said they were once again in limbo while the state had no legitimate recourse to deport any of them.

“Of course we will continue our struggle and consider all our legal options until every last asylum-seeker gets the status they deserve,” said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoma­n for the group.

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