Gabriel converted and asked to immigrate to Israel • When he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport he was almost returned to the DRP
Ben Gurion Airport (photographed has no connection to the news) // Photo: Yehuda Peretz
For about two weeks, Israeli borders have been closed to foreigners, and only Israeli citizens who have returned from abroad can enter the country directly for isolation, to try to prevent the spread of the Corona virus. One week ago, Gabriel Saunima, who was born in Zimbabwe, converted and is in the process of immigration to Israel. , Almost fell among the chairs of the new Israeli policy. Only at the last moment, on the sleeve of the plane on the way back to South Africa, was he allowed to enter the gates of the state.
Photo: Gil Kramer
Gabriel (22) began about two years ago a conversion process he successfully completed and is now known as a Jew. The next step was to immigrate to Israel and to complete the process more than two weeks ago, even before the crisis broke out, to obtain "Apostille", a special international certificate that approves and verifies various documents such as birth certificates, conversion or any other official document. Since his country of origin is not included in the countries recognized by the Israeli authorities, he has had to fly to South Africa and present the permit there. When he returned last Monday morning with the much-awaited approval, to his surprise, border control officials refused to bring him into Israel.
"I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport at three in the morning and told me at the airport that there was no one to take care of me because of the Corona," he says in a conversation with Israel Today, adding that "even though I had all the documents I was told that I had to go back to the Israeli embassy in South Africa Corona and go up only with permission that I did not contract the virus. The problem is, there are no strangers in there either. I was helpless. "
In regret, and after waiting more than two hours, he decided to ask for the help of Atim, Rabbi Saul Farber, who assisted him in the conversion process. "I received a message at 5:30 AM from a relative of Gabriel and immediately contacted him and tried to find out What exactly is the problem and what is its situation, "describes Rabbi Farber, who is fighting against the time for obtaining entry permits, since at 8:15 Gabriel was scheduled to board the plane back to South Africa.
"The border inspector did not recognize his documents because he was in a unique situation because he did not have a visa," he explains. "Once I understood the situation, I contacted a Home Office employee at the Population Registry and with the Jewish Agency. Until we obtained all the appropriate permits for Gabriel, including a commitment to isolation, it was already eight and we had no contact with border control."
At eight-three minutes, 12 minutes before the flight to South Africa, when Gabriel was right on the plane's sleeve, Rabbi Farber tried to cut short the bureaucracy. "I called Gabriel and asked to talk to the controller who accompanied him to the plane. Of course he didn't know me and said he had to release the plane. I asked him to wait until his superiors called him and he agreed to wait only two minutes." During this time, the representative of the Population Register tried to contact the border control personnel until at the last moment the long-awaited connection was established and Gabriel was allowed to enter Israel.
"My suitcases were already on the plane when I received the message that I could enter the country," says Saunima, who is seeking to immigrate to Israel following his sister, despite the fact that his parents and other siblings live in Zimbabwe. Since last week he has been in solitary confinement in his place of residence, Herzliya, and hopes that the global crisis will end quickly and, like the rest of the people, will allow him to continue his life course, "I plan to attend university and enlist in the IDF for a reserve track"
