The High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected an appeal by members of the Black Hebrews sect, asking that they be granted permission to work in Israel, after the Interior Ministry denied them work permits.
A panel of three justices ruled that it would be an “unacceptable situation” to force authorities to grant work permits to people who are in the country illegally to begin with.
The Black Hebrews, who have settled primarily in the southern city of Dimona, maintain that they have a right to live in Israel legally.
The Chicago-based sect claims to be descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel in Africa. Its members began arriving in Israel in 1968. The High Court ruled in 1972 that the Black Hebrews are not Jews and cannot become Israeli citizens under the Law of Return.
But Israeli authorities have had great difficulty deporting them. Once in Israel, sect members renounce their U.S. citizenship in order to prevent deportation.
According to the group’s leaders, however, members give up their American citizenship in order to prove the strength of their desire to live in Israel, which they see as their homeland.
The ruling by Justices Meir Shamgar, Gabriel Bach and Ya’acov Maltz said that a resident of Israel who receives a work permit and pays national insurance increases his chances of being recognized as a permanent resident of Israel.
However, the court suggested that if it is ever acknowledged that it is impossible to deport the Black Hebrews, then the Interior Ministry should reconsider issuing work permits.
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