The incident highlights the political confusion (lack of will?) in Israel regarding asylum seekers and economic migrants pouring into the country—-help migrants knowing that by doing so Israel could soon be taken over from within? It is the same story here, it’s just that the US is bigger and it will take longer before we know we are finished.
From Haaretz:
Soldiers and officers in a reserve battalion that served on the Egyptian border in recent weeks have told their commanders they will not take part in “immediate return” – the sending back to Egypt of Africans sneaking into Israel. The brigade commander, meanwhile, has confirmed that the battalion will not carry out “immediate return.”
The Negev Brigade’s elite reconnaissance battalion completed a three-week deployment on the border. Nearly every night, Africans crossed the frontier, mostly Sudanese and Eritreans, and at least one time, Libyans.
Early in the deployment, a family of Eritreans was stopped. A company commander was ordered to send the transients back toward an Egyptian checkpoint.
The soldiers and officers had heard descriptions from colleagues who regularly serve in the area about abuse of the Africans by Egyptian border policemen – violence, rape and murder – and refused to carry out the order. The commander contacted the battalion commander, Lt. Col. (res. ) Avi Friedman.
Friedman supported his men and contacted the brigade commander, Col. Yair Barkat, who then agreed that the troops would not carry out “immediate return.”
During the deployment, Africans received medical treatment, food, drink and were taken to a holding area on the Israeli side of the border.
Officer: “Israel has a problem, and they don’t know what to do, so they fob it off on the army.”
Soldiers and officers from the battalion who spoke to Haaretz asked to remain anonymous. “We’re proud of what we did, but we don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” one said. “What we had to say we said internally, to the battalion and brigade commanders. Israel has a problem, and they don’t know what to do, so they fob it off on the army.”
For further reading on Israel’s “refugee” issues we have a whole category, here.