{"id":2888,"date":"2015-09-14T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=2888"},"modified":"2015-09-21T20:30:03","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T00:30:03","slug":"israel-divided-on-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/09\/14\/israel-divided-on-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu Responds to Opposition’s Call to Welcome Refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabriela Taveras<\/a>
\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Upwards of 200,000 casualties\u00a0have been lost to deadly civilian and sectarian conflict that continues to ravage Syria, once deemed a role model for progressive development in the Middle East. A\u00a0number of countries have pledged support to aid civilians\u00a0fleeing Syria. Last week, Germany committed itself to accepting over 800,000 refugees, while the United States promised to welcome at least 10,000 Syrians into its borders. Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as the United Kingdom, have increased\u00a0migrant\u00a0and financial support.<\/p>\n

However, not every country has softened or modified its immigration\u00a0policies\u00a0to accommodate refugees from Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, and other highly unstable areas of the world. On\u00a0September 4, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls from Israeli liberals to open the country\u2019s borders to refugees.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu claims that while Israel is “not indifferent to the human tragedy of the refugees,” the country is not in a position to take them in. This statement came in response\u00a0to Israel\u2019s liberal opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who firmly proclaimed Jewish history\u2019s moral obligation to show compassion. Herzog\u2019s statement further challenged Israel\u2019s apparent indifference to the ongoing carnage in neighboring Syria, ignoring that\u00a0their nation once felt the weight of the \u201cworld\u2019s silence\u201d and that Israel is\u00a0in no position to reject cries for help.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu elaborated\u00a0on his policy decision by claiming that Israel was \u201ca very small country that lacks demographic and geographic depth,\u201d and that he refused to see Israel\u00a0 “submerged by a wave of illegal migrants and terrorist activists.\u201d Currently, the country’s demographic breakdown consists of\u00a06.2 million Jews–roughly 75 percent of the population–and Arab citizens comprising\u00a0more than 20 percent. Additionally, an estimated 4.6 million Palestinians live in occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

Similar to Hungary’s move to build or strengthen fences and walls\u00a0to keep migrants\u00a0at bay, Netanyahu\u00a0stressed that there will be a 30-kilometer extension of\u00a0the 240-kilometer fence running along the Israeli-Egyptian border, as well as\u00a0another fence that will be built along\u00a0the\u00a0Jordanian border in the east.<\/p>\n

Defending the government’s\u00a0draconian measures, Netanyahu pointed to\u00a0official figures that counted\u00a045,000 refugees in Israel, along with\u00a0medical care provided for over 1,000 injured Syrians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Netanyahu claims that while Israel is “not indifferent to the human tragedy of the refugees,” the country is not in a position to take them in. This statement came in response to Israel\u2019s liberal opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who firmly proclaimed Jewish history\u2019s moral obligation to show compassion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3032,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,388],"tags":[402,403,494],"class_list":["post-2888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-mid-east","tag-israel","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-refugees"],"yoast_head":"\nNetanyahu Responds to Opposition's Call to Welcome Refugees - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2015\/09\/14\/israel-divided-on-refugees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Netanyahu Responds to Opposition's Call to Welcome Refugees - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Netanyahu claims that while Israel is "not indifferent to the human tragedy of the refugees," the country is not in a position to take them in. 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