Thousands of African migrants seeking asylum in Israel protested outside the parliament in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Israeli NGOs lobbying on their behalf bused them to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv where most of them lived and worked on the campaign’s fourth day.
Parliament chairman Yuli Edelstein rejected a request by two left-wing lawmakers to allow four migrant representatives into the building.
Edelstein said in a statement that “against the backdrop of the tense atmosphere’’ their entry could provoke “disturbances’’ inside the building.
The migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, are angered by Israeli immigration policies and the government’s refusal to grant them status of asylum seekers