Israel: Rabbis in Bnei Brak have issued a request to residents not to rent property to African illegal immigrants

At a meeting held in the city, the rabbis also ruled that according to Jewish law, it is permissible to inform on Jews who do rent apartments to African illegal immigrants. The move is seen as a rare example of cooperation with secular community leaders, who are calling for a ban against allowing the infiltrators into the city. But the decision is not new. A similar ruling was issued by a panel of six hareidi religious rabbis in November 2010. Among the signatories at that time was the rabbi of the Pardes Katz neighborhood, Rabbi Menashe Zelicha, who even then referred to thousands of Sudanese who were walking around “bored, gathering on street corners and drinking beer,” as he described at the time. “It is a spiritual danger, and Pardes Katz has become Sudan.” The rabbi recommended that the government either build separate neighborhoods for the immigrants or deport them back to their countries of origin. “Those who rent out their apartments (to the illegals) take responsibility for spiritual consequences, and on their heads so be it,” stated the rabbis' warning in 2010. Interior Minister Eli Yishai has likewise warned that African infiltrators are overtaking Israeli cities and pose a threat to national security. Yishai, chairman of the Shas Sephardi religious party, urged the government to move the illegal immigrants to jail cells or holding centers and then give them a financial grant prior to sending them back to their homes. Likud MK Danny Danon, chairman of the Knesset lobby dealing with the problem of African infiltrators, agreed, “They are a blow to the country, and we need to deport them before it is too late." This time, a massive rally is being planned in Bnei Brak, where in the coming weeks rabbis and communal leaders are set to call for a public ban on the illegal immigrants. African illegals who immigrate to Israel have caused crime levels to jump in many of the areas where they have settled. According to Tel Aviv activist Corinne Galili, however, the crimes that make the media are only the tip of the iceberg. Galili said that the public hears when Israelis are raped or murdered by illegal entrants – but that crimes in which foreign workers or other illegals are targeted go largely unreported. “They don’t have ID cards, and it’s easy to commit murder and bury the body – nobody will report them missing,” she explained. Rabbis and others have expressed concerns about the illegals upsetting the public order and increasing the possibilities of Jewish youth intermarrying and assimilating – not only in Bnei Brak, but all across Israel.