{"id":113775,"date":"2024-06-21T17:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T15:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=113775"},"modified":"2024-06-21T07:25:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T05:25:50","slug":"27-05-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=113775","title":{"rendered":"Israelis seeking green cards face hostile questions about IDF service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Israelis seeking green cards face hostile questions about IDF service<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

UPDATE DESK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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An Israeli passport with visa and entry stamps. Credit: Israel.Travel.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Israelis applying for U.S. green cards (permanent resident cards) are reporting the introduction of a new line of questioning regarding their military service.<\/span><\/p>\n

While visitors to the United States have been asked basic questions about their military service before, it appears the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has singled out Israelis with a new policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attorney Liam Schwartz, head of the relocation department at Tel Aviv-based law firm Goldfarb, Gross, Seligman & Co., told\u00a0Ynet<\/em>\u00a0the new policy is \u201cintended to \u2018catch\u2019 military personnel and police officers who participated in arrests in Judea and Samaria.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The hunt for information may also be used \u201cby the authorities for the purpose of formulating their position in relation to acts defined as genocide,\u201d he told\u00a0Ynet<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yuval, identified as a senior manager at a Silicon Valley high-tech firm, received a letter from U.S. immigration services demanding more information about his military service before it could reach a final decision in his case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou must submit an affidavit under oath, describing your military service,\u201d the letter stated. \u201cAs part of this affidavit, the following questions must be addressed: Did you participate as a combatant in battles during your military service? If so, please describe your activity\/role in these battles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It also asked for details about his command, whether he ever guarded detainees and the types of weapons and explosives he used.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the feeling is as if questions were copied from the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yuval was given 87 days to submit the affidavit or face deportation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those applying for visas at a U.S. embassy outside Israel also may face a grilling,\u00a0Ynet<\/em>\u00a0reported, offering the example of Roital, who decided to continue a European trip to America.<\/span><\/p>\n

She applied for a tourist visa at an American consulate in Western Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in an interview that lasted more than half an hour, and all the questions referred to my combat service. The interviewer was very curious about my training and skills in weapons and explosives, and wanted to know details about the reserves in Gaza,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, the guy left the window for about 10 minutes, I could see he was talking passionately with someone else. He returned, handed me the passport, said, \u2018You are not eligible for a visa today\u2019 and closed the window blinds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ofer, vice president of North American marketing for a real estate company, told\u00a0Ynet<\/em>\u00a0about his experience two weeks ago with customs officials upon entering the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, he was ushered into a room for further interrogation after presenting his Israeli passport.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey opened my laptop. Looked up a Google Chrome account with the name of my [IDF] unit and called a translator. There was nothing classified there. Just correspondence about the unit\u2019s treatment of evacuees from several localities. It\u2019s just that there was a lot of such correspondence. I sat for four hours until they decided I could collect my things and leave,\u201d he told\u00a0Ynet<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, I missed the connecting flight and I waited another six hours until the next flight. I travel so much to the United States, I have never been bullied like this as an Israeli,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

When viewed in the context of other moves against Israeli citizens by the Biden administration towards Israel, it is a reasonable assumption that the inhospitable stance towards Israeli visitors comes directly from the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

The State Department has sanctioned Israeli individuals and groups, most recently\u00a0Tzav 9<\/a>, an Israeli organization protesting against aid trucks to Gaza, arguing that the supplies end up in the hands of Hamas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a June 14 press statement announcing the sanctions, the U.S. State Department described Tzav 9 as \u201ca violent, extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Zell, chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, who announced that he would take the U.S. government to court for\u00a0sanctioning\u00a0<\/a>four Israelis in February, told JNS that the executive order was an \u201coverreach\u201d by the Biden administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of this falls under U.S. jurisdiction,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Biden administration is trying to shut down organizations such as Tzav 9 and Regavim using an executive order, which is improper, illegal and unconstitutional.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Regavim monitors and pursues legal action\u00a0against illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Israelis seeking green cards face hostile questions about IDF service UPDATE DESK An Israeli passport with visa and entry stamps. Credit: Israel.Travel. Israelis applying for U.S. green cards (permanent resident cards) are reporting the introduction of a new line of questioning regarding their military service. While visitors to the United States have been asked basic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113775"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113785,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113775\/revisions\/113785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}