Israeli media: Operation Passport Marathon due to increased demand

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
15 May 2023 17:05

Israeli media reports on increased demand for new and renewed Israeli passports, resulting in long waiting hours just days after Resistance targeted "Tel Aviv" with rocket volleys.

Passengers look at the monitor displaying delayed flights at Ben Gurion airport, near "Tel Aviv," Occupied Palestine, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP)

In "Israel", there is a "major logjam of Israelis who want to apply for or renew their passports," reported Israeli Media, which drove the occupation government to launch Operation Passport Marathon.

According to Israeli Media, there has been a chronic shortage of time slots for passport services, forcing settlers to stand in long queues for hours, hoping to get the chance to put in an application.

Moshe Arbel, Minister of Interior in the Occupation government, called the situation a "passport crisis" and urged settlers to "set aside a day and prepare accordingly as it can take several hours.”

Arbel also admitted that in recent years, applying for a passport has become “an unbearable situation for many citizens.”

While Israeli Media claimed that the backlog has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the timing of the announcement came just two days after a ceasefire was announced following an intense battle between Gaza's Resistance and the Israeli Occupation Forces, which included over 1,400 rockets being fired from Gaza.

Operation Avenging the Free led to rocket attacks targeting central "Israel" and landing in "Tel Aviv" and occupied Al-Quds. Israeli media reporting on the situation announced that throughout the 5-day battle, "Israel" was paralyzed and envelope settlements witnessed heavy fire and their settlers, approximately 10,000 in number, were escorted to other regions.

Israelis racing to obtain foreign passports: Israeli media

Earlier in February of this year, Israeli media also reported on a situation showing that Israelis have been seeking ways to leave the Occupied Palestinian territories as the Resistance becomes more powerful and stability in "Israel" gets challenged.

At the time, Israeli media said that "more Israelis are afraid of what is happening, and there is an increase in the percentage of applications for foreign nationality," a settler told Channel 12 stressing that "people in 'Israel' are preparing the ground for 'emigration'."

Last May, about a year following the Seif Al-Quds battle, a report by Israeli journalist Noam Dvir for Israel Hayom revealed that Israelis are "concerned by societal rifts" and the "rising cost of living", according to a poll by the "Pnima movement", which is working on addressing the rifts in Israeli settler society.

According to the report, around one-third of Israelis (35%) said the occupation is not treating "bereaved families" properly, adding that 60% of Israelis aged 29 and under were of that opinion.

Highlighting how domestically troubled the Israeli occupation is, Major General Uri Gordin, in June 2022, noted that the "reality" for the Israeli occupation has shifted dramatically over the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which "Tel Aviv" grossly mishandled, and mainly because of Seif Al-Quds.