Israel's Immigration Authority Seeks Deportation of Caregiver for 97-Year-Old Laureate
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
Israel's Population and Immigration Authority is appealing to the Supreme Court to deport Rudy Lafat, a Filipino caregiver for 97-year-old Israel Prize laureate Professor Avitar Nevo. Professor Nevo relies on Lafat for all daily activities due to severe dementia, and his daughter fears his death if deported. A lower court allowed Lafat to stay temporarily, but the Authority seeks his immediate removal, citing previous denials of his status requests.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Israel's Immigration Authority seeks to deport caregiver Rudy Lafat for ailing laureate Professor Avitar Nevo.
- Professor Nevo, 97, relies on Lafat for all daily activities due to severe dementia.
- Nevo's daughter fears her father will die if his caregiver is deported.
- The Authority is appealing a court decision that allowed Lafat to stay temporarily.
- Lafat has cared for Nevo for five years and is from the Philippines.
Israel's Population and Immigration Authority has filed an exceptional request with the Supreme Court to deport Rudy Lafat, a caregiver from the Philippines who has been assisting 97-year-old Israel Prize laureate Professor Avitar Nevo for the past five years. Professor Nevo, a founder of the University of Haifa, has seen his health decline significantly since the war, requiring 24/7 care for daily activities due to dementia.
His daughter, Orit, stated that Lafat is essential to her father's survival, providing all his care, including bathing and daily outings. She expressed concern that his immediate mental and physical state would deteriorate, leading to his death, if Lafat were forced to leave. The family has been engaged in a legal battle to keep Lafat in Israel since 2023.
In 2024, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for Administrative Affairs allowed Lafat to remain in Israel for an additional year or until a replacement caregiver could be found, a decision that has been extended twice. However, the Immigration Authority is now appealing this ruling to the Supreme Court, seeking to have Lafat deported sooner, despite the ongoing search for a replacement.
The family's lawyer, Assaf Weitzman, called the Immigration Authority's appeal highly unusual and described the potential deportation as "cruel hardness and abuse" of a man who dedicated his life to the country. The Immigration Authority stated that Lafat entered Israel in 2005 on a nursing visa and has had multiple requests for his status to be regularized denied since 2020, including legal proceedings. A 2024 court ruling granted him an organizational period but denied his request for regularization, and his case is currently before the Supreme Court.
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