Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the closure of the immigration police unit of Israel Police in its current form, explaining the responsibility will be handed over to a new Interior Ministry unit that is forming in the near future.

The immigration police unit was established in 2002, and it is credited with making significant progress in apprehending illegal foreign workers. The unit numbers 380 people, divided between field work and office and intelligence gathering tasks. The announcement to shut the unit is a sudden one officials report, apparently caught off guard by the prime minister’s decision.

MK Meir Porush stated the decision is a mistake and the move from immigration police to an immigration authority is destined to fail, warning the move will result in a sharp increase in the number of illegal foreign nationals in Israel. He warned that as a result, the number of illegals will rise to that which existed prior to the establishment of the police unit, and he predicts the situation will resemble “anarchy and disastrous proportions”.

He explained that too many foreigners without a control mechanism presents “serious demographic problems to society” the daily HaMevaser newspaper quotes Porush as stating. Porush questions why the decision to halt the deportations, which has proven an effective method of controlling the number of illegals in the country.

It is estimated that during 2008, there were some 200,000 foreigners in Israel with 45% being illegal. This year, that number appears to be growing.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)