Concerns about recruiting and arming of African refugees in Israel for “life-threatening” operations are brought up by military sources.
According to Haaretz, Israel is recruiting African refugees in exchange for permanent residency status in exchange for “life-threatening” operations in Gaza.
According to defense officials who spoke with Haaretz, the project of recruiting is being carried out in a planned way with the help of legal advisors from the defense establishment.
About 30,000 Africans are looking for asylum in Israel. Politicians who are hostile to immigrants, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have increased their pressure on them by calling them “infiltrators”.
A man who was interviewed by Haaretz and finally chose against enlisting related how he was encouraged by a security official to participate in the Gaza invation war . The official clarified that he would be deployed to Gaza with other asylum seekers following a two-week military training period.
“I asked, ‘What do I get?’ even though I’m not really looking for anything,” the man, named A, stated.
“But then he said to me, ‘You can receive documents from the State of Israel if you join us in this operation.'” He promised to take care of my residence permit process and asked that I send him a photocopy of my ID.”
As per Haaretz, the ethical concerns related to the recruitment of asylum seekers have not been addressed, and as of now, none of the asylum seekers who took part in the war effort have been granted official status or permanent residence.
Citing military sources, the outlet reported that asylum seekers had been used in various operations.
According to one source, “This is a very troubling matter.”
“The participation of legal experts does not absolve anyone of the obligation to consider the values by which we seek to live in Israel.”
Due to limitations imposed by the Israeli military censor, Haaretz reported that the “manner in which the Israeli army deploys the asylum seekers is barred from publication”.