38 of the 272 suicide bombings in Israel (roughly 14 percent) were carried out by terrorists that had received Israeli citizenship in the context of family reunification, a Shin Bet official told the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Monday.

The committee met Monday in order to discuss the extension of a temporary law that prevents family reunification between Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza and Israeli Arabs due to security reasons.

The Shin Bet official said the figures show it is imperative that the government extend the temporary law, which will expire January 16.

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Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass also said it is absolutely necessary to extend the law, because security threats have not decreased. Justice Ministry attorney Yochi Gansin said there has been an increase in the involvement of women in terrorist attacks, including married women, widows, and educated women.

Nearly all of the MKs who participated in the deliberations were harshly critical of calls to extend the temporary law. The committee's chairman, Labor MK Raleb Majadele, demand the committee be presented with statistics on the involvement in terror of Palestinians who received entry permits, and not just those who received citizenship as a result of family unification.

Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin called the law "a terrible law, a draconian law that has no place in the book of laws," while Hadash MK Dov Khenin said: "It is a bad law that harms human and civil rights."

Ra'am-Ta'al MK Ahmed Tibi said the "rationale behind the law is not security but demographics."

Attorney Oded Peler from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the association opposes extending the law, saying it constitutes collective punishment, blatantly violates individuals' constitutional rights to personal freedom, dignity, equality, and privacy, and harms family life.

This is the fourth time the Knesset has been asked to extend the temporary law.

In the summer of 2005, the law was amended allow Palestinian males over the age of 35, and women over the age of 25, to begin the family reunification process. In addition, the amendments expanded the army's authority to grant entry permits for periods over six months for the purpose of medical treatment.

In May, an expanded High Court of Justice panel approved the temporary law in a 6-5 vote. The court determined, however, that arrangements must be put into place in order to put greater emphasis on humanitarian concerns.

Among the dissenting votes was former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who argued that the "worthwhile objective of increasing security does not sanctify serious harm to the lives of thousands of Israeli citizens."

The new version of the law will change the response to humanitarian exceptions. For instance, the interior minister will determine the maximum annual quota of individuals that will receive entry permits for humanitarian reasons on the basis of a professional committee's recommendation.

In such cases, the Palestinian individuals in question may be granted not only entry permits, but also may be given temporary resident status, which will allow them to work legally.

The new version of the law would also grant the interior minister the authority to reject any citizenship request filed by residents of Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Lebanon.