Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Lewinski Park this weekend to protest the deportation of children of foreign workers.

The deportation of children has been postponed by three months but Interior Minister Eli Yishai has announced that the deportation of workers who cannot prove they are childless will continue.

Shahar Somekh, of the organizers of the protest, is quoted in local as saying  that “Israel’s Jewish character will not be harmed if we give these children legal status”.

Present at the protest earlier were MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) and MK Dov Khenin (Hadash).

In a speech, Khenin said, “It’s time to put an end to the slave trade in Israel and to stop the revolving door.

” There are no foreigners here, there are only human beings. This should not be a temporary decision for three months, but a law against the deportation of children.”

Just a few hours later, the Immigration Authority announced it was launching a massive Tel Aviv wide search for illegal residents.

An aid organization that provides foreign workers with assistance said following the announcement that the operation was “a devious deed totally devoted to returning pride to the injured ( Immigration Authority) unit”.

But the unit’s director, Tziki Sela, told local media the operation had to be set in motion on Saturday evening because “this is when larger numbers of foreign workers and illegal residents gather in the area of the central bus station in Tel Aviv”.