Israel Expands $3,500 Exit Grants to Nationals of All African States
Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority is expanding a $3,500 voluntary-departure grant to nationals of all African countries, Haaretz reported, in a bid to reverse a drop in assisted departures.
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The payment is confined to foreign nationals the authority says are staying in the country unlawfully. Israeli citizens, permanent residents and Palestinians are excluded, according to the agency’s published rules.
Eligibility Widens Across Africa
Haaretz reported Thursday that Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority is expanding a program that pays $3,500 to African nationals who agree to leave voluntarily, making citizens of all African countries eligible.
The authority’s website, last updated in June, says people who return to their country of origin receive $3,500. Those who leave for a third African country under an arrangement can receive $5,000 if they are women or children and $3,500 if they are men.
The package also includes airfare, travel documents and protection from enforcement until the flight, the site says.
Who Qualifies and Who Does Not
The official page excludes anyone with Israeli citizenship or permanent residency, as well as Palestinians. That rules out Ethiopian Israelis and other Israelis of African descent.
The authority describes eligible recipients as “infiltrators,” listing examples that include Sudan, Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea and countries without diplomatic relations. Rights groups describe many of them as asylum seekers.
Calcalist reported in July that the grant was halted mid-2025 in a budget cut and restored in early 2026 only for African “infiltrators” returning home or leaving for a third African country, not for people flying to Western states.
Assisted Departures Fell in 2025
Haaretz said the number of people leaving with the authority’s help fell by about 20% in 2025, and that Eritreans accounted for 89% of departures from African countries.
Calcalist, citing official figures, put 2025 departures at 2,815, down from a 2024 peak of 3,511. The authority blamed tighter Canadian asylum quotas and the closed U.S. border. About 17,600 such migrants remained in Israel as of July, the paper said.
A separate 2017 deposit scheme requires employers to set aside 16% of these workers’ wages, withdrawable only on permanent departure. In 2025, 1,499 people who left drew 74.6 million shekels, about 50,000 shekels each, Calcalist reported.
Rights Groups Cite Past Pressure
In 2018, Israel offered the same $3,500 payment plus a ticket to Rwanda or Uganda, and threatened jail for those who refused. UNHCR said it was concerned that people sent to those countries had not found adequate safety. The Israeli group Hotline for Refugees and Migrants has long argued that such departures were not genuinely voluntary.
The 2018 forced-relocation plan later collapsed after the third-country arrangements unraveled. Israel has more recently held talks with South Sudan over transferring Palestinians there and widened its presence across Africa. Neither UNHCR nor Israeli rights groups immediately commented on Thursday’s reported expansion.
Kamer Kurunç
Kamer Kurunç is the Team Leader of Clash Report and has led the outlet for four years. He oversees its breaking world news coverage, from the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war to defense and global politics. His focus is fast, verified, source-based reporting. Follow him on X at @kamerknc.
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