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ISRAEL will expel 400 native-born children of non-Jewish foreign workers to help safeguard the country's Jewish identity.
Migrant advocacy groups responded angrily, arguing that the decision would punish innocent children by sending them back to impoverished nations their parents left in search of better lives in Israel.
Announcing the decision on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the policy was also aimed at halting the flow of illegal immigrants across the southern border with Egypt.
''On the one hand, this problem is a humanitarian problem, we all feel and understand the hearts of children,'' Mr Netanyahu said. ''But on the other hand, there are Zionist considerations and ensuring the Jewish character of the state of Israel.''
Under the new rules, children born to foreign workers who entered Israel legally, and who have lived in Israel for five years or more, speak Hebrew and are enrolled in an Israeli school, will be eligible for permanent residency.
After considering the issue for more than a year, the Israeli cabinet voted 13 to 10 in favour of the decision.
Some ministers voted against the move because not enough children were being expelled. Other ministers were opposed to expelling any children.
About 400 children of foreign workers will have to leave Israel by the end of the month, while another 800 children will be eligible to stay.
''This isn't the state of the Jews that I know, that expels children,'' said Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a Labour Party member. ''This is not the right time to let people see Israel expelling 400 children.''
Rotem Ilan, chairman of Israeli Children, an advocacy group for migrant workers' families, said: ''We're talking about children here. They are the children of people who came to Israel legally to work.
''We brought these people here to plough our fields, build our houses and take care of our grandparents. And with people, come families.''
Ms Ilan argued that it was the deportation of children that threatened Israel's Jewish character.
''The obligation to act with kindness and compassion to foreigners is the most frequently repeated commandment in the Torah,'' she said.
Migrant advocacy groups responded angrily, arguing that the decision would punish innocent children by sending them back to impoverished nations their parents left in search of better lives in Israel.
Announcing the decision on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the policy was also aimed at halting the flow of illegal immigrants across the southern border with Egypt.
''On the one hand, this problem is a humanitarian problem, we all feel and understand the hearts of children,'' Mr Netanyahu said. ''But on the other hand, there are Zionist considerations and ensuring the Jewish character of the state of Israel.''
Under the new rules, children born to foreign workers who entered Israel legally, and who have lived in Israel for five years or more, speak Hebrew and are enrolled in an Israeli school, will be eligible for permanent residency.
After considering the issue for more than a year, the Israeli cabinet voted 13 to 10 in favour of the decision.
Some ministers voted against the move because not enough children were being expelled. Other ministers were opposed to expelling any children.
About 400 children of foreign workers will have to leave Israel by the end of the month, while another 800 children will be eligible to stay.
''This isn't the state of the Jews that I know, that expels children,'' said Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a Labour Party member. ''This is not the right time to let people see Israel expelling 400 children.''
Rotem Ilan, chairman of Israeli Children, an advocacy group for migrant workers' families, said: ''We're talking about children here. They are the children of people who came to Israel legally to work.
''We brought these people here to plough our fields, build our houses and take care of our grandparents. And with people, come families.''
Ms Ilan argued that it was the deportation of children that threatened Israel's Jewish character.
''The obligation to act with kindness and compassion to foreigners is the most frequently repeated commandment in the Torah,'' she said.
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