Israel Seeks to Deport Moroccan Wife of Ex-Border Guard, Citing Family's Daughter

Israel's Population and Immigration Authority is seeking to deport Salma Jude, a Moroccan citizen married to Yosef Inbar, an Israeli citizen and former Border Police officer, despite the couple having a young daughter who is an Israeli citizen. The Beersheba Court for Administrative Appeals has temporarily halted Jude's deportation until a decision is made on her request for an interim order. The court has given the state 30 days to submit its response to the appeal and 15 days for its reply to the request for temporary relief. This is a temporary delay, not a granted interim order.

Inbar, who has lived in Eilat for about 10 years, served in the Border Police from March 2016 to November 2018 and suffers from PTSD, receiving ongoing treatment and recognition from the Ministry of Defense's rehabilitation department. He met Jude in Morocco through an arranged match. They became engaged in November 2023 and married in Morocco in November 2024. Jude entered Israel in January 2025 on a B/1 visa for spouses of Israeli citizens. Their daughter, Maska, was born in May 2025 and is registered as a citizen with both parents in Eilat.

An interview with the couple at the Eilat Population and Immigration Authority office in September 2025, reportedly conducted with Jude via telephone translation, was followed by a psychiatric evaluation noting anxiety. Their application was rejected on September 30, 2025. Following an internal appeal, a second interview was conducted in June 2026 with a translator for Moroccan Arabic. This appeal was also rejected on September 14, 2026, with the authority concluding the relationship's sincerity was not proven and ordering Jude to leave Israel by October 14.

The appeal filed by attorneys Osama Abu Agag and Michael Zilberschmid argues that the decision completely ignores their shared daughter, who they claim is the strongest evidence of a genuine family unit. They also point out that the decision itself confirms the couple lives together. The attorneys contend that the "contradictions" cited by the authority are minor details or inaccuracies, and that the initial interview was not translated into Jude's dialect of Arabic. They further claim the couple was not given a chance to respond to the alleged discrepancies before the decision, which they argue considered extraneous factors, including Inbar's behavior towards service representatives and comparisons to "other couples from the same sector," instead of exploring less severe measures like visa extension and continued monitoring.

The appeal also asserts the decision disregards the child's best interests, contravening the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Israel ratified. The request for an interim order highlights that deporting the mother would separate a baby from her mother or force an Israeli citizen from her country and father, causing irreversible harm. Inbar stated, "They are ignoring that we have a shared daughter. If you are not convinced of the relationship, why did you register her as my daughter without sending me for a DNA test?" He also accused the Eilat Population Authority of racist treatment, claiming discrimination against Arabs and expressing regret for his military service. He stated he had also contacted the office of the President's wife, Michal Herzog, but received a response from the Population Authority stating he had made threats, which he denies.