The lawmakers said they were writing as Jewish Congress members and also on behalf of their constituents; the majority of the lawmakers represent districts with substantive Jewish communities.
Netanyahu announced a plan in January to deport and/or jail the asylum seekers, many of whom have been in Israel for years. That plan was vigorously criticized by the international human rights community, as well as an array of Jewish organizations and figures in the United States, including a number that rarely openly criticize Israel. The United Nations plan would have left half the migrants in Israel with undetermined status while seeking countries willing to absorb the other half, a process that can take up to five years.
Netanyahu dropped the UN plan after coming in for several hours of lacerating criticism from right-wingers in Israel, including in his own government.
Netanyahu said he would revert to his earlier plan to send the asylum seekers to an unnamed African country, believed to be Uganda. Refugees experts say that without the checks of a regulated migration under the auspices of an international organization, deportation is fraught with peril.
“While we recognize the complexities of this situation, we were disappointed by the decision to cancel Israel’s agreement with UNHCR,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “and we urge you to quickly find a solution that is in the best interest of both Israel and the refugees,” the letter said.
Also signing the letter were Reps. Susan Davis, Brad Sherman, Adam Schiff and Alan Lowenthal of California; Jerrold Nadler of New York; Jan Schakowsky of Illinois; Lois Frankel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida; David Cicilline of Rhode Island; Jacky Rosen of Nevada; Steve Cohen of Tennessee; Jamie Raskin of Maryland; John Yarmuth of Kentucky; and Jared Polis of Colorado.
