Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Wednesday that most African migrant workers in Israel were connected to crime, and called for imprisoning, and then offering them a grant to induce them to leave Israel.

"Whoever is considered a refugee, and there are few, can stay," Yishai told Army radio. However, he added, "One cannot forsake the security of Israelis," drawing a line between infiltrators and asylum-seekers from countries like Sudan and Eritrea fleeing conflict in their homelands.

Yishai's stern warning comes against a backdrop of rising violent incidents, street crimes and rapes among the community and their Israeli neighbors, both populations dwelling mostly in south Tel Aviv.

On Tuesday, police detained four Eritreans on suspicion of robbing and raping a 19-year-old woman near the city's central bus station, which has become an epicenter of migrant worker housing.

Earlier in the week, a Foreign Ministry document said that, according to international law, Israel would be within its rights if it chose to send some 700 South Sudanese not seeking asylum back to their country.

Last Wednesday, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to formulate a coherent policy towards illegal immigrants, following the rise of tensions.

In recent months, Huldai's municipality and police have been coping with growing street crimes by mostly Sudanese infiltrators, and revenge attacks, including fire-bombings and assaults by Israelis ired by their presence.

"I am required to address you again as the person who chairs the government in a demand to take responsibility over the frustrating reality of which my city's citizens are required to live in," according to a copy of the mayor's letter to the prime minister which was sent to Xinhua.

On June 3, the government plans to submit a response to a Jerusalem District Court query on the Sudaneses' legal status, the Haaretz daily wrote.

The Foreign Ministry's position was reached only after an Israeli ambassador's visit to ensure that the situation for returnees to Sudan was safe, and a vetting by the ministry's legal department, according to The Times of Israel.

The report recommends "promoting cooperation with international aid organizations or Israeli groups in South Sudan to maintain contact with deportees."

The government says there are more than 50,000 such Africans in Tel Aviv, The Jerusalem Post reported, noting that Yishai and like- minded officials consider the influx a threat to Israel's demographic identity as a Jewish state.

Huldai noted that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants already dwell in Tel Aviv, with thousands more immigrating to the city every month.

"No one in the government is taking responsibility for treating them," the mayor said, adding that "You can't ignore their needs as human beings and expect them not to turn to crime."

The letter comes after the recent arrest of two Israelis suspected of a firebomb attack on an African asylum seeker's apartment.

The Tel Aviv mayor said he cannot afford to wait until the completion of the Israel-Egypt border barrier, which is intended to prevent illegal access to Israel.

Netanyahu has said the government is constantly dealing with the illegal immigrant phenomenon, in a reply sent to Huldai last week.

"This phenomenon is endangering security, the economy and society. We allocated a budget to establish a holding facility for detainees and we are promoting legislation which will significantly increase the fines on employers of illegal immigrants," Netanyahu wrote in a statement.

While the city and government offices exchange letters, out on the street, daily relations between Israelis and the burgeoning alien population in the city's southern neighborhoods remain tense, with violent incidents occurring on a near-daily basis.

Meanwhile, human rights groups looking after the migrants welfare expressed dismay over the report's conclusions, with the Foreign Worker's Hotline slamming Yishai's remarks as "racist," and "tarring an entire community for the actions of a few," according to Israel Radio.