After serious clashes between Israeli police and Eritrean migrants, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out in favor of the deportation of the protesters. More than 150 people were injured in yesterday’s riots in Tel Aviv, a third of them police officers. This means that “a red line has been crossed”, Netanyahu said today in a meeting with a ministerial committee.
The riots were triggered by an Eritrean festival that was supposed to take place at the East African country’s embassy in Tel Aviv. Critics saw the event as propaganda.
Since 1993, President Isaias Afewerki has ruled Eritrea under a one-party dictatorship, and freedom of expression and press freedom are severely restricted. There is also a rigorous military service and forced labor system, from which many Eritreans flee abroad. Similar riots have recently occurred in Germany, Sweden and Norway over Eritrean festivals.