The possible deportation of 1,200 children of foreign workers brought hundreds of people together in Tel Aviv this weekend.

The demonstration, to coincide with the end of the school year, was attended by both Jewish and foreign parents who held up signs demanding Israeli citizenship for the children of mostly Filipino and African workers, whose children were born in the country.

An inter-ministerial committee formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon decide on what will happen to the children.

A member of Knesset, Dov Khenin, who attended the demonstration said the children should not be deported and Jews should remember their own banishment from Egypt.

He told Haaretz: "This protest is the final step before the fate of these children is set. We will not rest and not end our struggle. We are telling the decision makers to end the ongoing threat to these children."

If the deportation of the children is approved, Khenin said a wide civil movement would spring up against the decision.