Laborites stave off vote on amendment to citizenship law

Labor Party ministers prevented the Ministerial Committee on Legislation from discussing a proposed amendment to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom yesterday.

Forty-four Knesset members support the proposed legislation.

The amendment is intended to make constitutional the so-called Citizenship Law that prohibits Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining citizenship. Supporters fear the High Court of Justice, which is presently hearing four petitions against the controversial amendment, will declare that it is unconstitutional in its present format.

MK Nachman Shai (Kadima), one of the sponsors of the law, announced yesterday he was withdrawing his support after he learned that passage of the proposal would require amendment of a Basic Law.

The Labor ministers yesterday demanded that the government find a compromise within the next two weeks that provides solutions to the wide range of problems arising from the Citizenship Law as it stands, and to present the compromise in the form of a government-backed bill.

In May 2006 the High Court rejected a number of petitions against the Citizenship Law. However, a majority of the justices did agree that the legislation disproportionately harmed the rights of Arab citizens, as well as their right to equality and family life.

The proposed amendment states there is no contradiction between the Basic Law and the Citizenship Law, and thus it cannot be declared unconstitutional.

In the wake of Haaretz's reports on this issue at the end of last week, over the weekend Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, appealed to cabinet ministers to oppose the bill. Adalah called the law discriminatory and racist, and said it has no equivalent in any democratic country.