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The Jerusalem Post

Aid workers, including from UNRWA, face deportation from Israel - report

 
 A view of the damaged exterior of a UNRWA health centre, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, in this still image taken from video released February 15, 2024.  (photo credit: Handout via Reuters)
A view of the damaged exterior of a UNRWA health centre, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza, in this still image taken from video released February 15, 2024.
(photo credit: Handout via Reuters)

Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry employees claim that they simply don't have the tools to give property background checks and security clearance needed to recommend candidates for visa extensions

Tens to hundreds of humanitarian organization employees who work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including from UNRWA, are facing deportation in the near future because the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry has stopped recommending their renewals since October 7, according to a thread on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.

Yanir Cozin, the creator of the thread and diplomacy correspondent for Army Radio, wrote that the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry employees claim that they simply don't have the tools to give property background checks and security clearance in order to recommend candidates for visa extensions, following the attack on October 7 and recent discoveries of UNRWA employees being affiliated with Hamas.

Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Ya'acov Margi supported his employees' decision and instructed them to work directly with security bodies so that this responsibility would eventually be transferred to them instead.

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Yanir then expressed his own opinion, saying, "Something significant happened on October 7, we can't just automatically renew every worker's visa without checking them in-depth, and the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry is not the one that needs to be doing that."

The Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry weighs in on the issue

The Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry commented on the matter said, "Issuing visas for work and volunteering in Israel is currently done by the Population and Immigration Authority after our recommendation. In light of the complex security situation created after October 7, it was decided to transfer the responsibility to another government body and we are working with our colleagues in the relevant government ministries to complete the process."

SHAS MK Ya'acov Margi speaks during a debate over the Film Law in the Knesset Education, Culture and Sport Committee  (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
SHAS MK Ya'acov Margi speaks during a debate over the Film Law in the Knesset Education, Culture and Sport Committee (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

It's important to note that, according to the thread, the Israeli government doesn't have any intent to let the worker's visas purposefully expire, however if a solution isn't found soon, the workers will be deported nonetheless.

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