Israel's controversial plan to deport or jail tens of thousands of Eritrean asylum seekers is drawing a mix of support and criticism. And activism among Holocaust survivors, and even pilots who say they won't fly planes with deportees on board is strong. Our correspondent Stephanie Freid in Tel Aviv has the story.

They've been queueing outside Israel's immigration authority since 5 a.m. Most are here for the umpteenth time submitting asylum applications yet again. If applications aren't approved, come April the single men here will have a choice: go to either Rwanda or jail. A growing number of Israelis say that's NOT a choice.

RABBI NAVA HEFETZ START-UP NATION UNIVERSITY, JERUSALEM "When a stranger sojourns amongst you, you have to give him the best place in the country. You must give him the best jobs. This is written in the bible. I didn't invent it."

Rabbis, students and Holocaust survivors are urging people to hide Eritreans when deportation time. Pilots are banding together saying they won't fly planes with deportees onboard. Israel's prime minister Netanyahu calls the activist surge baseless and absurd. Locals who claim the influx of tens of thousands of Sudanese and Eritreans into area neighborhoods ushered in an era of drugs and crime, agree.

DAVID, LOCAL BARBER TEL AVIV "My father was a Holocaust survivor. You see the number on his arm? Not one of them is a refugee. They are all infiltrators and they're here to stay. How? They have loads of children. Every woman between the age of six and sixty is pregnant."

Activists hope they'll overturn the government ultimatum. So do asylum seekers like twenty-two- year-old Figo, who came to Israel from Eritrea when he was fifteen. He has applied for asylum four times and already spent one year, two months and two weeks in Israeli prison. If he gets a deportation or jail order, he will opt for prison. STEPHANIE FREID, CGTN, TEL AVIV.