Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino said Wednesday that the scale of the foreigners' problem continues to grow, in the backdrop of a wave of violence .
During a tour of south Tel Aviv, where many migrant workers and refugees reside, Danino said: "Every time I come here I see the numbers keep growing. They have caused the surge in crime." The commissioner said that the police aim to boost deployment in south Tel Aviv.
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Danino was joined by Prime Minister's Office director Harel Locker, who promised that the Netanyahu government will "do what it takes" to curb the phenomenon. "We are investing a billion shekels on the fence, we will build another holding facility and enforce the law vis-à-vis employers. This is a security and strategic problem," he said.
Danino and Locker in south Tel Aviv (Photo: Moti Kimhi)
Locker said that the infiltrators entering Israel are motivated by financial reasons. "First of all, we'll stop the flood and those that are already here will be removed or transferred to holding facilities."
Earlier on Wednesday, Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station and accused Interior Minister Eli Yishai of failing to handle the infiltrator situation.
Aharonovitch in Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station (Photo: Yaron Brener)
"The Interior Ministry and Oz Unit are responsible of enforcement. There is no enforcement," he claimed. "I was asked by the prime minister to add places in an open facility inside prisons.
"I created some 2,000 places but no one is taking them up. I did my part, the other ministries have not. I am telling the interior minister – first get the job done…The Oz Unit hasn't been working for two months. Someone needs to deal with these workers."
Many business owners in the Central Bus Station area described an intolerable level of crime. They are claiming to suffer from repeated theft and other disruptions.