Benjamin Netanyahu backs out of asylum-seeker deal
Israeli PM had agreed to grant some refugees residency while sending others to Germany and Canada

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended a deal struck with the United Nations refugee agency to resettle or give residency to thousands of African asylum seekers, just hours after news of the plan was made public.
Under the five-year deal, around 16,000 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers currently in Israel who were facing prison or deportation would have been sent to countries including Germany, Italy and Canada.
Netanyahu had earlier announced that for every one of those that were resettled in the West, Israel would grant one asylum seeker “temporary residency”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Netanyahu faced strong criticism from “anti-migrant groups in southern Tel Aviv and powerful politicians in his own governing coalition”, says the BBC, leading him to rethink the deal.
Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett warned that the new UN deal would “turn Israel into a paradise for infiltrators”.
Both Italy and Germany said they were “unaware of any such resettlement deal”, says The Guardian, which has added to the confusion.
The UN deal was intended to replace a controversial plan that had resulted in the forced deportation of asylum seekers to African countries including Rwanda and Uganda.
It was halted by the Supreme Court, says The Times of Israel, after asylum seekers who had been deported said they were facing “serious danger and even imprisonment after arriving in Africa without proper documents”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Scottish hospitality shines at these 7 hotels
The Week Recommends Sleep well at these lovely inns across Scotland
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Scientists invent a solid carbon-negative building material
Under the radar Building CO2 into the buildings
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: April 1, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson Published
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clash
speed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Israel strikes Gaza, breaking ceasefire
Speed Read 326 Palestinians were killed in the first major attack since Netanyahu's government signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Why is Netanyahu pushing into the West Bank now?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Israeli tanks have entered some Palestinian cities for the first time in decades. What's behind this latest assault on the occupied territory, and where could it lead if left unchecked?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The optics of Hamas' hostage releases
In The Spotlight 'Release certificates' and 'gift bags' part of 'strategic choreography' of prisoner swaps
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published