Parents of pregnant woman, wife and others denied entry to Israel

The Jerusalem Post has learned that the parents of a woman who is about to give birth in ten days, and the parents of a 20-year-old bride who is due to get married next month, who have been repeatedly refused entry into Israel by the Population and Immigration Authority, due to policies

In another case, the daughter of a 95-year-old Israeli woman about to undergo heart surgery was denied entry to Israel five times.

These are just a few of the hundreds of recent examples in which the state has prevented immigrants from seeing their parents or children at the most crucial times in life, leaving many people angry and helpless with their treatment. by the country in which they chose to live.

In many cases, requests are rejected within hours, and in some cases within minutes, by the authority.

The Permits Committee of the Population and Immigration Authority of the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for approving or rejecting such applications and declares that it acts in accordance with government policy to limit the entry of foreign nationals.

The authority’s website states that foreign nationals can apply for an entry permit if they are the spouses of Israeli citizens or the parents of a child who is an Israeli citizen, for various reasons, including pregnancy, funerals or any other humanitarian necessity, like anyone else for the same reasons.

Nicole Grubner, 32, who made her alyah eight years ago, is due in 10 days.

Her parents applied for entry permits to Israel through an Israeli consulate in Canada and were repeatedly rejected, and also applied directly to the Permits Committee of the Population and People’s Authority. immigration who also rejected their request.

Neither Grubner nor her partner have first-degree relatives in Israel, and Grubner says she is afraid of giving birth and becoming a mother for the first time without her parents being present.

“A birth is a difficult experience both physically and emotionally, especially when becoming new parents,” she says.

“It is frustrating and frightening to go through a life changing event without support or assistance, and it is a shame that the government is preventing people from having immediate families to help them at such times.

Ettie Stein, 95, is an Israeli citizen and immigrant who made her alyah in 2002 from South Africa when her children moved to Australia at the same time. Ettie Stein, 95, and her granddaughter Mandi Brandriss. (Credit: MANDI BRANDRISS)

Her granddaughter Mandi Brandiss, who is also an immigrant to Israel, told the Post that Stein had suffered from health problems for the past two months and had recently spent the night in a hospital emergency room due to breathing difficulties.

Stein now needs surgery to replace his aortic valve and is due to go to the hospital on Monday for the procedure.

Stein’s daughter, who lives in Australia, has made five separate applications to the Population and Immigration Authority’s Permits Committee for a permit to enter Israel to see her elderly mother, the first dating from March 16, all of which were rejected.

The authority said in response to one of the requests saying: “Your request does not reflect a humanitarian need or a particular personal need which warrants the approval of your request.”

Brandiss said her mother provided all the necessary documents to the Population and Immigration Authority, including her own birth certificate, a letter from the surgeon performing the surgery and a letter from Stein’s family doctor testifying of the importance of having her daughter in the country before. and after the procedure.

“It just seems there is no humanity,” Brandiss said, adding that his family desperately wanted the government to change its policy on emergencies.

“I can’t even imagine the pain my mom is going through. I’ve had sleepless nights myself about this, it’s heartbreaking to think that you can’t go to your mom, when next week she might not even be here anymore.

In another case, Javah Levy, a 20-year-old Spanish immigrant, is expected to get married next month.

Levy’s parents and those of her fiance, who also made aliyah from Spain, have repeatedly asked the Population and Immigration Authority for an entry permit to attend the wedding of their children, but were also repeatedly refused.

Levy said they could delay the wedding in Spain so their parents can attend, but noted that all of his grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends now live in Israel and could not attend the wedding abroad. .

She said she was now stuck in a terrible dilemma, in that the couple can decide on the one hand to marry in the presence of their parents but without all of their other friends and relatives, or to marry in Israel with everything. the world but without Their parents.

Levy added that with the May 6 wedding date quickly approaching and their parents’ likely need to self-quarantine upon arrival, they now only have about ten days to make a decision on where to go. wedding.

“It’s really frustrating, you do your aliyah because it’s your country, but without knowing the language and without having a home. But when you get married, you at least want your parents there, ”Levy said.

“It’s very sad for everyone. Weddings are a party, but I don’t want to remember all my life that nobody danced with me and I got married alone if we have to go to Spain to get married, or on the contrary to get married without my parents.

“We have forgotten what it means to be a Jewish state. In fact, being a human condition, ”Lipman said.

“I support the rules to prevent the spread of corona – but at this point we have all the technology and resources to make sure it doesn’t spread. And not to allow parents to come to their children’s marriage or help their daughter give birth is inhumane.

Lipman said he called on the government to immediately create a mechanism to deal with the crisis.

The Population and Immigration Authority responded that the entry permit application criteria were “transparent to all” and published online.

“The decision of whether or not the request meets the criteria rests with the committee members and not the requester or journalists,” the authority said.

“Government policy continues to be to restrict the entry of foreign nationals into Israel and the committee acts in accordance with it.”

Lipman called the response “shameful” and said it demonstrated “everything that can be wrong with the government”.

Lipman said, “It’s not a human response. Where is the heart? Where is the soul? Where is the care? Where is the recognition that people are suffering for no reason now that there are vaccinations. I don’t accept this and no one should. I and the others involved will not rest until we change this policy. “