Get email notification for articles from Bar Peleg Follow Jul. 19, 2021 6:04 AM The Health Ministry is close to adopting a plan to provide health insurance for asylum seekers and other foreign nationals who can’t be deported from Israel. Although Israel recognizes asylum seekers as “foreigners who can’t be deported,” it doesn’t currently provide them with any social benefits such as National Insurance Institute allowances, health insurance and welfare services. Consequently, some 28,000 adult asylum seekers, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, receive no assistance, except in extreme cases. A joint committee of the health and finance ministries considering solutions for asylum seekers is slated to submit its conclusions next week, in advance of the cabinet debate on the new state budget. It was established following a High Court of Justice ruling on a petition by Physicians for Human Rights that sought to require health insurance for minors who can’t be deported.