Sheffi Paz
Sheffi PazYoni Kempinski

Southern Tel Aviv activist Sheffi Paz on Wednesday told Arutz Sheva that the foreign workers' demonstrations in Herzliya are a "fraud."

The demonstrations were held in protest of Israel's plan to remove African infiltrators to Rwanda and Uganda. Under Israel's plan, the infiltrators have until the end of March to leave. Each will receive a plane ticket and $3,500 (2,900 euros) to do so, and those who remain will face arrest. Israel has carefully checked that security conditions are adequate in the accepting countries and only infiltrators who came in to seek work are to be relocated, while those who are bona fide refugees may remain.

"I was there, and we stood and shouted back at them," Paz said. "It's all lies, and it's unbelievable how many lies are in their campaign. They talk as if we are sending them to their deaths, and that's a lie. These people have lived in Tel Aviv for years, and they don't want to go back to Africa, they like it here. They make up stories about sending them to their deaths, and it's a lie. The only ones who died are the ones who went to Rwanda and then paid people to smuggle them to Europe. But they didn't die in Rwanda."

Slamming the demonstrations' organizers, Paz said, "The people behind these demonstrations are well-known leftist and 'human rights' activists, and I want to ask them: For years you've relied on the Supreme Court, you've run to the Supreme Court for every tiny thing and you've received everything you wanted because they were on your side. Now, after two years of discussions, the Supreme Court has accepted the State's guarantees that the agreement is safe, and suddenly, the Supreme Court isn't good anymore. Suddenly, the Supreme Court is lying and sending these people to their deaths."

Paz also noted that those defending the infiltrators do not live in southern Tel Aviv.

"Suddenly there's this trend to protest the deportations," she said. "You woke up after ten years, and suddenly you're worried about the infiltrators. But where were your morals until now, when we cried out that we can't take this anymore?"

Israeli residents of southern Tel Aviv - where most of the infiltrators live - have long complained of their presence, the increased crime rate that spells out the danger they present to Israeli citizens, and the city and Supreme Court's preference for infiltrators over Israeli citizens. Although the Supreme Court rejected previous attempts to solve the problem, the Justice Ministry amended the law in accordance with their recommendations and the courts agreed to the plan.