Israel finds itself in a quandary not of its own making. As conditions worsen in Sudan, its refugees have been illegally crossing the Egypt-Israel border and seeking asylum in Israel. The arrival of 1,500 Sudanese refugees, including a third from the ravaged Darfur region, has put an enormous strain on Israeli welfare services. Israel has been forced to jail some of the refugees and, recently, to propose establishing a tent city near the Ketziot jail to house the remainder. The government also proposed to return "infiltrators" to Egypt. Quite understandably, Israel fears real infiltrators from Khartoum's virulently anti-Israel government, as well as a social welfare crisis of huge proportions.

And yet too many of the refugees face dire circumstances if they are to return to Sudan, where the Bashir government has been inflicting genocide, or Egypt, which has proved an extremely inhospitable host. Even groups sympathetic to Israel's security and social situation are wondering about the symbolism of a Jewish state, built as a haven for those fleeing genocide, turning back a population that is running for its life. And they imagine the PR coup were Israel to be seen helping Africans, including Muslims, who faced only persecution in their home countries.

These groups are urging Israel to grant asylum status to the refugees who can legitimately claim it.

Israel cannot possibly absorb a flood of immigrants from Africa. That's why the responsibility falls on the world community, governments and nongovernmental agencies alike, to work on two fronts — to pressure despotic governments like Sudan's to halt their campaigns of terror, and to provide Israel the help it needs in absorbing refugees. This is not a crisis of Israel's own making, and it shouldn't be Israel's to solve alone.