Archive for the ‘Egypt’ tag
Closed Society: January 2, 2013
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a tour of the Israel-Egypt border fence that he “has committed to the return of all the tens of thousands of African infiltrators to their countries of origin or to other countries.” (Ynetnews)
(Hebrew – Ynet)
Political: November 3, 2012
Major General (Res.) Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry’s diplomatic-security bureau, said that “democratic aspirations” in Egypt had resulted in a “terrible dictatorship.” Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak (Atzmaut) said that the comments made by Amos Gilad do not reflect Israel’s position.
Military and Security Forces: 22 April, 2011
Although the state told the High Court of Justice (Hebrew source) that it does not use the “hot return” procedure, by which soldiers hand over refugees to Egyptian border police, soldiers’ testimonies indicate the army still returns refugees to the Egyptians (Hebrew source). However, a group of reservists refused to perform the procedure, and received authorization not to perform it from its commanders.
Military and Security Forces: 18 April, 2011
According to reports from the “Physicians for Human Rights” organization and the Hotline for Migrant Workers, IDF soldiers denied entrance to forty asylum seekers from Eritrea, excepting two women. Most of the group has been in the desert since last week, without food, water, or shelter.
The State has claimed in Supreme Court hearings that it doesn’t turn away women, and also that since the beginning of March, it doesn’t perform “hot return” (also known as “coordinated immediate return procedure”), in which IDF soldiers and Border Police are authorized to return asylum seekers to Egypt.
Diplomacy: 17 February, 2011
The number of diplomatic visits abroad of PM Binyamin Netanyahu has been significantly reduced in the past year. During his first year in office Natanyahu flew abroad 13 times, and visited 9 countries. In his second year Netanyahu flew abroad 8 times only, and visited 6 countries. Out of these trips, 3 were to Egypt, and 3 to the US.
(Hebrew)
