Herzog calls for Netanyahu to quit after migrant plan cancellation
Netanyahu made the announcement that he had changed his mind in a meeting with residents of south Tel Aviv neighborhoods where the migrants have moved in.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: APRIL 4, 2018 02:24Migrants, activists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv protest Netanyahu's scrapping of relocation deal, April 3, 2018 (Reuters/Tamara Zieve)
Politicians in the Center-Left and Left slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday for canceling the international plan for handling African migrants that he revealed with great fanfare 21 hours earlier.Netanyahu made the announcement that he had changed his mind in a meeting with residents of south Tel Aviv neighborhoods where the migrants have moved in.“There is only one way to deal with the theater of the absurd that we have seen over the past day, and that is to demand that the leading actor leave the stage,” opposition leader Isaac Herzog said. “Netanyahu’s dramatic U-turn on the issue reveals more than anything the weakness and hysteria of a prime minister whose decisions are repeatedly tainted by politics. The decision to cancel an international agreement that could have provided a reasonable solution to the issue will cause legal, diplomatic and humanitarian problems.”Zionist Union party chairman Avi Gabbay, blasted Netanyahu’s “cowardice, lack of leadership, fleeing from responsibility, incitement, and empty slogans,” and accused him of being a “spineless politician.”Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg said Netanyahu’s decision proved he does not really have policies and that he acts like a “talkbacker” on the Internet.Yesh Atid faction chairman Ofer Shelah said Netanyahu had caused Israel international shame and the result would be that no country will want to reach an agreement with Israel anymore.Joint Arab List MK Dov Henin, a former Tel Aviv mayoral candidate, said that by canceling the plan, Netanyahu left intact the status quo of migrants harming south Tel Aviv rather than dispersing and absorbing them in communities across the country. He said the decision would harm both the veteran Tel Aviv residents and the migrants themselves.But Netanyahu received praise from Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett, who called the decision “wise,” adding the prime minister must now remove illegal foreign workers.