State Ends Funding for Deportation Flights: "They Must Pay From Their Own Pockets"

For years, the State of Israel financed the costs of deporting migrants and illegal workers, including flight tickets to countries of origin and sometimes even detention expenses. Now, following a petition filed by the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, the state has announced that it has begun implementing a mechanism to collect part of the deportation costs from the deportees themselves, in accordance with the option provided by law.

According to an update published in 'Yedioth Ahronoth', 860,000 shekels were collected as part of this procedure in the first half of 2026. It was further reported that 58 deportees were given the option to pay for their own flight tickets, while in other cases, collection was carried out using means permitted by law.

The law grants the state the option to impose deportation costs on the deportees, among other things through funds in their possession, deposits, or collection from employers. Despite this, for years no practical mechanism was operated to implement this arrangement, and therefore the state continued to bear the costs even in cases where the deportees were willing to pay themselves.

In a hearing held at the Supreme Court, the judges criticized the situation. Justice Yael Willner questioned how it is possible that a person who wishes to pay for their flight cannot do so, while Justice Noam Sohlberg defined the situation as one that causes:

"A lot of money to go down the drain."

The state representative replied that the reason for this was technical difficulties and a lack of an orderly collection mechanism.

The Israeli Immigration Policy Center welcomed the implementation of the law, arguing that the move is expected to reduce the burden on the public treasury and prevent a situation where the state finances deportation costs instead of collecting them from the deportees, as the law permits.