This is a true case, decided at the Appellate Court in Jerusalem by her Honor, Judge Shirli Rener (case number 52449-09-14) on December 25, 2014.
The facts
The petitioner was born in 1964 in Ethiopia. In 1997, she married an Israeli citizen living in Addis Ababa. In 2002, the petitioner immigrated to Israel and received a temporary visa.
Two years later, the petitioner visited the Ministry of the Interior in order to renew her visa. This is normal procedure. It can take five years, or more, until a non-Jewish person, married to an Israeli citizen, receives permanent citizenship.
During her visit to the Ministry in 2004, the petitioner told the clerk that she had left her husband, amongst other reasons because of his violent manner. She claimed that he had assaulted her.
As a result of her separation and, as required by law, the Ministry of the Interior told the petitioner to leave Israel. (She did not qualify for the right of return because she is not Jewish.)
After remaining in Israel illegally for an additional four years, the petitioner requested a new visa (known as a “family reunion visa”) because she was living with a new partner, also an Ethiopian citizen, who had made aliyah in 1979.
The petitioner became a “permanent visitor” to the Ministry of the Interior, requesting, on three different occasions, the right to remain in Israel due to her common law marriage to three different Ethiopian men. She claimed to have left each man because of violence.
There is no doubt that the petitioner remained in Israel for a total of 12 years, mostly illegally. As she had no legal recourse, she tried the ultimate weapon, “humanitarian grounds”. After she applied on these grounds to the special committee of the Ministry of the Interior, her request was denied.
During this time, the petitioner underwent surgeries on her eyes due to glaucoma and cataracts.
In 2014, following various legal procedures and appeals, the petitioner filed a petition to the Appellate Court.
Her case was based on the violence perpetrated against her by her various husbands. In addition, she claimed that she required medical treatment in Israel and could not have the procedures done in Ethiopia.
The Honorable Judge denied all claims, especially as a result of the petitioner’s illegal residence in Israel for so many years. She was to be deported on or before February 15, 2015.
Behind the facts
We have a legal system where the law is applied differently for different people. This petitioner may sound like a victim, but she is not.
She remained in Israel for many years, for no reason and without a visa, as required by law. I cannot explain why the State of Israel had never before bothered to deport her, in spite of the fact that they knew where to find her.
Why?
Why should the State have deported her? Because she received treatment in our best hospitals, was provided legal aid and was most probably exempt from court fees.
There are no free meals; not here, nor in any other part of the world. For all these years we, the taxpayers of Israel, paid her expenses, provided her with free medical care and free access to the courts.
Israel is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in. We struggle so hard to survive; and a major part of our annual budget goes to defense. We have better uses for our taxes.
It’s time the State of Israel started to practice what it preaches – one law for all – so that, if someone acts illegally, the State can use the many tools at its disposal to enforce the law.
We are not talking about this or that petitioner. The real numbers are still not clear, but there are between 200.000 and 300.000 illegal refugees in Israel.
