Israel Recruiting African Asylum Seekers for 'Life-Threatening Gaza War Operations' With Promise of Permanent Residency

Israel Is Recruiting African Asylum Seekers for Life-threatening Gaza War Operations, Promising Permanent Legal Status

Israeli security officials are offering the incentive of permanent residency status to asylum seekers who agree to participate in sometimes life-threatening military operations in Gaza. Sources say that internal criticism of this exploitation has been silenced: 'This is a very problematic matter'

by Yaniv Kubovich and Bar Peleg | Sep 15, 2024

Israel's defense establishment is offering African asylum seekers who contribute to the war effort in Gaza – risking their lives – assistance in obtaining permanent status in Israel. This, according to personal accounts obtained by Haaretz.

Defense officials, speaking off the record, say the project is conducted in an organized manner, with the guidance of defense establishment legal advisers.

However, the ethical considerations of recruiting asylum seekers have not been addressed. To date, no asylum seekers who contributed to the war effort have been granted official status.

There are currently some 30,000 African asylum seekers living in Israel, most of them young men. Around 3,500 are Sudanese citizens with temporary status granted by the court because the state has not processed and ruled on their applications.

[...] [One African migrant Israel tried to recruit was told] there was a two-week training period if he was drafted, joining other asylum seekers. He also promised that the pay he would receive for the military service would be similar to what he earned at his job.

"I asked, what do I get? Even though I'm not really looking for anything. But then he told me – If you go this way, you can receive documents from the State of Israel. He asked me to send him a photocopy of my ID and said he would take care of these things."

After a date was set for A.'s enlistment, he began having second thoughts. "I wanted to go, and I was very serious about it, but then I thought – just two weeks of training and then to be part of the war effort? I've never touched a gun in my life." [...]

Military sources say the defense establishment has made use of asylum seekers in various operations, some of which were reported in the media. [...]

Sources who spoke with Haaretz revealed that while there were some inquiries about granting status to asylum seekers who assisted in the fighting, none were actually given status. At the same time, the defense establishment sought to provide status to others who contributed to combat efforts.

Haaretz also learned that the Interior Ministry explored the possibility of drafting the children of asylum seekers, who were educated in Israeli schools, into the IDF. In the past, the government allowed the children of foreign workers to serve in the IDF in exchange for granting status to their immediate family members.

The relevant defense body told Haaretz in response that all of its actions are conducted legally.