After the violence in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu has called for the immediate deportation of Eritreans living in Israel.

After Saturday’s riots in Tel Aviv, Israel is considering drastic measures, including the immediate deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers.

Roughly 170 people were hurt in the violent clashes between pro- and anti-government groups in Eritrea, as well as with police.

According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “a red line” had been crossed.

He also issued an updated strategy for expelling all “illegal infiltrators” from Africa.

On Saturday, anti-government activists claimed they had asked Israeli authorities to cancel an event hosted by the Eritrean embassy, setting off a day of unprecedented disorder.

They damaged the venue after breaking through the police barricade surrounding it.

Officers on horseback tried to push the protesters away while riot police fired tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds.

The legality of the use of live fire is currently being looked into.

Several scores of Israeli police officers were hurt, and they reported that they feared for their lives.

Dramatic street battles also broke out, with large groups of Eritreans armed with rocks, metal, and wood. They fought each other and smashed storefront windows and vehicle windscreens.

This is the latest violent outbreak in recent weeks, stemming from tensions within Eritrea over President Isaias Afwerki’s rule.

Over the course of several hours, police helicopters hovered overhead and sirens wailed, making the streets of central Tel Aviv sound like a war zone, according to locals.

Optional rigidity
During a time when Israel is already divided over the hardline government’s highly controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system, the rioting has put the divisive issue of migrants back on the political agenda.

Mr. Netanyahu and members of his cabinet have accused the Supreme Court of being to blame for the failure of previous attempts to force migrants out of Israel.

“Now there remains a serious problem with the illegal infiltrators in south Tel Aviv and elsewhere,” the prime minister said at a special government meeting on Sunday.

We demand that the rioters be dealt with severely, including their immediate deportation.

Plans “for the removal of all the other illegal infiltrators,” he asked the ministers to present to him.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, plans to propose legislation that would nullify a section of Israel’s quasi-constitutional basic law on human dignity and liberty in order to move forward with the mass deportation of migrants who entered the country illegally.

About 18,000 Eritreans are seeking asylum in Israel, most of whom entered illegally through the Sinai Peninsula many years ago. They claim they escaped from one of the most repressive countries in the world due to threats of violence, persecution, and mandatory military service.

Despite the fact that regime-supporting Eritreans seem unlikely to be in need of international protection as refugees, Israeli authorities have not differentiated between asylum seekers based on political affiliations until now.