The Supreme Court rejected yesterday an appeal by 28 members of the Black Hebrew community to review its decision not to grant them immigrant status under the Law of Return. The court agreed, however, to extend the order forbidding the Interior Ministry to deport them until their request for permanent visas is reviewed.
The applicants, represented by attorney Yosef Ben Menashe, argued that the court should review its former decision because the Black Hebrews had failed to mention at their previous hearing that they received “treatment cards” from the Jewish Agency when they entered Israel, which indicated the Agency regarded them as potential immigrants.
Judges Moshe Landau, Alfred Vitcon and A. M. Mani rejected the argument saying the treatment cards were not equivalent to immigrant identification cards given to regular immigrants. The court will deal with the Black Hebrew problem in Nov. after the Interior Ministry replies to their request for permanent visas.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.