Refugees? Persecuted in their homeland? For their opinions or beliefs? The gates of Israel are open to you. We in the Jewish state do not need international treaties to tell us to help the persecuted. As the song by Naomi Shemer puts it, "Green basket, white flower, red wine, salted bread / that's what we have / sit with us here." Prof. Rafi Walden of Sheba Medical Center said recently that he was treating three such cases: wounded, with lost limbs and crushed legs. Even though they sustained these injuries during illegal attempts to infiltrate into Israel they are welcome. This reluctant host will not turn away an individual who was injured or disabled by its forces, even if the law is on its side. The idea that these refugees convert and be absorbed into Jewish society would even be acceptable. I am not advocating an Israeli missionary effort rather, if they want to convert the door should be open. Such an idea could have been recommended if Israel's rabbis were not so stringent. When a gentile approached Shammai, an important Jewish scholar of the 1st century invariably mentioned with his Halachic rival Hillel, asking to be converted for reasons deemed less than admirable, he refused. Yet when the same man approached Hillel, he performed the conversion, pointing out his achievements. If these refugees were allowed to convert, their children or grandchildren could become the Professor Walden of future generations. But the rabbis of 2012 subscribe to the Shammai school of thought what a missed opportunity. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! That being the case, there is no other choice but to deport them. If the government does not deport economic migrants it will only encourage more migrants to pour into Israel. It will unleash a human tsunami. It will endanger Israel's Jewish identity and further destabilize the delicate demographic balance. It will harm not only the status of Jews in this country, but also that of Israel's Arabs. Those who are hurt should not be deported. Children born in this country who view it as their homeland and want to become a part of the Jewish majority should not be deported. But everyone else belongs in ones home country. The decision by the cabinet on Sunday [to implement a NIS 630 million plan to keep infiltrators out of Israel] is a good one, assuming three conditions are met: Their dignity is strictly protected (unless they use violence) and they are granted a rehabilitation stipend, as Interior Minister Eli Yishai once suggested and now seeks to double to about $1,000; the governments in their countries of origin are contacted to ensure that no harm comes to them upon their return; and they are treated so well while in Israel that they become ambassadors of goodwill in their home countries despite being deported. What prevents all this from transpiring is the brutal involvement of Kahane-style protesters in the debate over the fate of these infiltrators.
