Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to release Sudanese refugees from prison, Army Radio reported on Tuesday.
Rabbi Lau requested that those currently being detained, after undergoing a security background check, be released and given full refugee status.
"We are members of the Jewish people, and have suffered from persecution and the world's refusal to acknowledge us when we arrived in this country as refugees," Rabbi Lau said. "Heaven forbid that we ignore the suffering and distress of other nations."