Short answer: no.
Israel should not offer to absorb a significant number of Syrian refugees. But an explanation is needed. And other action is needed.
In recent days, as the crisis of the Syrian refugees intensifies and is becoming a dominant item on the world's agenda, a debate is taking place in many countries on how to best address it. There are countries, such as Germany, that are opening their arms and their doors to the refugees. There are countries, such as Hungary, who do not want to let them stay. There are countries, such as the Arab Gulf states, that are being criticized for not taking in refugees. There are other countries that could also do more, and are not doing more, for various reasons, not all of them good reasons.
Israel is not ignoring the story of the refugees. It is having a debate about them, including one in the political sphere. Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog urged the government to initiate a “controlled absorption” of Syrian refugees in Israel. The head of leftist Meretz made a similar suggestion, and other MK's of other parties also agreed. MK Elazar Stern of Yesh Atid believe Israel should absorb refugees (but the leader of the party, Yair Lapid, opposes such absorption). Deputy Minister (Likud) Ayoub Kara wants Israel to absorb “tens of thousands” of refugees.
On social media, on the radio and on TV shows, Israelis are having this debate, and they have strong feelings about the issue. That should come as no surprise: the sight of the refugees is heartbreaking. And Israelis respond to it the way you'd expect any decent human being to respond – with a sense of horror, a sense of devastation and a sense of great compassion.
The arguments one hears from those in favor of Israel taking responsibility for Syrian refugees are strong: Israel is a country of refugees. It is a country of a people that had to escape from war and oppression. It is a country that still looks with suspicious eyes at a world that closed its doors to Jewish refugees when they had to flee for their lives seventy years ago. “Jews cannot be indifferent” when refugees are looking for a safe haven, said Herzog. That is a sentiment that many Israelis share – I would not be surprised to get the same argument from the leaders of other Jewish communities in the coming days.
There are other arguments in favor of absorption. One refers to geography: Syria is a neighbor. Syrian refugees are Israel's neighbors. A country has a responsibility to help its neighbors. And there is the PR argument: Here is an opportunity for Israel to display its good side. And there is the argument of precedent: Prime Minister Menachem begin decided, back in the 1970s, to absorb refugees from Vietnam.
Eight years ago I wrote an article (for Slate) about Israel's somewhat similar dilemma regarding the fate of refugees from Darfur. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to reject Darfurians at the gate. And as I wrote back then, “the memory of the Holocaust and the Jewish refugees who wanted to flee Europe but could find no country willing to accept them was a handy weapon for those who criticized Israel for its cold-hearted decision.”
No doubt, Israel will yet again have to defend itself from accusations and criticism. That is because Israel is not going to absorb refugees from Syria. “Israel is a very small country. It has no demographic depth and has no geographic breadth,” PM Netanyahu said on Sunday, in response to Herzog's call for action. “We must protect our borders against illegal immigrants and against the perpetrators of terrorism. We cannot allow Israel to be flooded with infiltrators,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu could have tried to convey his message in more appropriate terms. The refugees are no “perpetrators of terrorism,” and there is no reason to make it sound as if they are (Netanyahu did not say that they are – but he did use the unnecessary word “terrorism” in this context). And, true, Israel is a small country – but is that really an excuse? Would we reject an opportunity to absorb a hundred thousand Jewish immigrants – say, from France – because we are a small country?
Wrong words – right policy – as is often the case with Netanyahu.
Israel cannot involve itself in Syria's war. If the world wants to stop the bloodshed, and with it the the flood of suffering refugees, the world has much better means with which to bring about an end to the civil war. The international community did nothing to stop that war, except talking, and now the war is at its doorstep. There is no reason for anyone to gloat about that.
Israel cannot involve itself in the Syrian war, and it cannot be the refuge for Syrians who want to flee Syria. In fact, Israel is the worst candidate for such a mission. Syria is an enemy country. Syrians are educated to loath Israel, and I assume many of them do. Letting them get in makes little sense. Some would not want to come. And if they do, they might not be able to go back. And when they are here, they will have to be supervised for security reasons. And their presence will make Israelis nervous – for good reason. And Israeli supervision will make them nervous – because they know Israel only as a threat.
And as for being neighbors: That is really an argument against absorption. Had they been from someplace far, and from a country with which Israel has no active conflict, and from a culture that does not teach Israel hatred – it would have been a different case. But the Syrians come from a country with which Israel does have an active conflict. They come from a country that has a claim over territory that Israel keeps under its own jurisdiction.
Of course, the fact that Israel does not want to be a shelter for Syrian refugees does not mean that Israel should not strive to be useful in helping Syrian refugees. Israel has already done many things, some of them under the radar, to assist some of the people who suffer in Syria. Visitors to various Israeli hospitals in the north can testify that the number of wounded Syrians that Israel takes in and gives treatment to is probably much higher than most Israelis realize.
Israel can do more. It can send financial, medical, and other types of aid to the countries to which Syrian refugees flock. That is, if these Syrians are willing to eat Israeli food, get examined by Israeli doctors, live in Israeli tents. Israel should make such an offer to the European governments that are currently bearing the burden of hosting the refugees. It should make the offer to world Jewish organizations with which it can collaborate to organize such humanitarian missions.
Herzog's suggestion was not wise, but his instinct was well-placed. Something needs to be done.
So that is the message I would like to hear from an Israeli government – a positive can-do message. Here is what Israel wants to do for the refugees, here is what Israel is going to offer. And as for the things that Israel cannot do – there’s not much point in talking about them.
