Winston Peters has hit out at Ted Cruz over allegations of immigration requirements for Israelis visiting New Zealand. Photo: AFP / RNZ
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has called out a United States Senator for sharing what he says is "fake news" about the immigration requirements for Israelis visiting New Zealand.
"It's difficult to treat New Zealand as a normal ally within the American alliance system, when they denigrate and punish Israeli citizens for defending themselves and their country from Iranian-controlled terrorists," Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted on the social media platform X.
He also shared the link to an article from online media outlet Haaretz which claimed that New Zealand would now require every Israeli to provide details of their military service to receive a visitor visa.
It's difficult to treat New Zealand as a normal ally within the American alliance system, when they denigrate and punish Israeli citizens for defending themselves and their country from Iranian-controlled terrorists.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 31, 2025
Hamas didn't just murder Israelis on October 7, but also…
Peter's response was fiery. He directly called out the senator and the outlet, and said the article was "fake news".
"We are demanding it be corrected," he said
"Israelis do not need visitor visas to travel to New Zealand, let alone have to declare their military service."
This @haaretzcom story is fake news, Senator @TedCruz. We are demanding it be corrected.
— Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) February 1, 2025
Israelis do not need visitor visas to travel to New Zealand, let alone have to declare their military service.
And both New Zealand’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner and I - as Foreign… https://t.co/mhrx9pwHyw
That was echoed by Immigration New Zealand.
"There may be certain circumstances where we need more information from an applicant to determine they meet the requirements for entering New Zealand - such as details of their military service," deputy chief operating officer Jeannie Melville.
But she said "it is not correct to say that every Israeli wanting to visit New Zealand is asked to provide details of their military service".
She said there were also no new policies for processing visitor visa applications from Israeli or Palestinian nationals.
The Times of Israel had also reported this week that Israelis entering New Zealand were required to detail their military service.
Since 7 October 2023, Immigration New Zealand had approved 809 of 944 applications received from Israeli nationals across both temporary and residence visa applications, Melville said.
The Haaretz article also said a "genocide hotline" had been set up by a local pro-Palestinian group, so New Zealanders could report on IDF troops visiting the country.
Earlier this week a digital flyer distributed by Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa received significant condemnation after it called for New Zealanders to report any Israeli soldiers holidaying in New Zealand.
John Minto’s call to identify people from Israel holidaying in New Zealand via a ‘dob them in hotline’ is an outrageous show of fascism, racism, and encouragement of violence and vigilantism.
— Winston Peters (@winstonpeters) January 27, 2025
New Zealand should never accept this kind of extreme totalitarian behaviour in our…
"Both New Zealand's Chief Human Rights Commissioner and I - as Foreign Minister - have made clear that the so-called "genocide hotline" is dangerous, antisemitic nonsense," Peters said in his post on X.
"New Zealanders are a friendly people - and Israelis are very welcome to visit New Zealand."
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