(JTA) — Israel will allow Ukrainian refugees who are ineligible for Israeli citizenship but who have relatives in Israel to seek refuge in the country without counting towards the refugee cap announced last week.
Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s minister of the interior, announced last week that Israel would cap its absorption of Ukrainian refugees who are ineligible for Israeli citizenship at 25,000 people. Shaked amended the policy Sunday after criticism of the cap to allow for those with family members already in Israel to enter without counting towards that number, according to The Times of Israel.
Under Israel’s Law of Return, anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent who wishes to obtain Israeli citizenship is automatically eligible and Israel has anticipated a wave of Ukrainian Jews moving to the country. But the country has historically been less welcoming to non-Jewish refugees, including the thousands of African asylum seekers currently living in Israel.
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Israel had been criticized for trying to deport some of the Ukrainian refugees who are ineligible to immigrate and for requiring a deposit from non-Jewish migrants of around $3,000 as a guarantee that they would eventually leave. The deposit requirement has been dropped.
Under the new policy, Ukrainians seeking refuge in Israel will need to have a relative already living in Israel sign a form stating that the refugee will live with them for one to two months. Most of the Ukrainians seeking refuge in Israel are believed to have relatives or friends in the country.
Even with the amendment to the refugee cap, the restrictions have still been criticized within Israel. Nachman Shai, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs, said the policy was “still problematic.”
“No other country has imposed limits on refugees. This framework is still problematic, and we are again restricting the arrival of refugees and making a distinction between those who have family in Israel and those who do not,” Shai said in a statement.
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