Deporting children from Israel

Dan Izenberg:

The Bialik-Rogozin school in south Tel Aviv is one of the most unusual educational institutions in the country.

For one thing, the school includes a kindergarten, primary school and high school under one roof and one management.

For another, it has a unique demographic composition. Thirty-two percent of its students are the children of foreign workers, 19% are children of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 7% are Israeli Arabs.

Another peculiarity, to say the least, is that Bialik-Rogozin must be the only school in Israel that stands to lose about 30% of its student body before the end of the school year.

In accordance with a government decision passed on June 26, all children of foreign workers and their families will be deported from Israel as of March 31, 2006 unless they meet each of the following criteria:

The child was born in Israel, is at least 10 years old and has lived here continuously.

His parents entered Israel legally with a visa and permit according to the Entry to Israel Law before the child was born.

The child is studying in an Israeli school or graduated from one, speaks Hebrew and his deportation would involve "cultural exile" to a country to which he has no cultural connection.

In its June decision, the government endorsed a proposal originally approved by the Interministerial Committee for Population Registration headed by then-interior minister Ophir Paz-Pines (Labor).

Paz-Pines's proposal was a more draconian version of the one made by his predecessor, Avraham Poraz (Shinui), two years earlier.

Adieu... To You and You and You