MK aims to keep Palestinians married to Israelis from gaining citizenship
Ministerial panel to vote Sunday on amendment to keep High Court from annulling controversial Citzenship Law.
By Jonathan Lis Tags: Israel newsThe ministerial committee on legislation is to vote Sunday on an amendment proposed by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu) to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, intended to bring it into line with the controversial Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law.
Rotem believes the Knesset must keep the High Court of Justice from annulling a controversial law that denies citizenship to Palestinians married to Israelis.
Rotem, who is chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has gotten 44 MKs to submit the bill with him.
Four petitions against the recent extension of the law until the summer of 2010 have been submitted to the High Court, claiming it is unconstitutional. The High Court has harshly criticized the law in the past, but has not called it unconstitutional.
Rotem says he sees no problem with the Knesset intervening in real time with court deliberations. "If I were to discover that some law stating that the sun must rise at 8 A.M. could be interpreted by the court as stating that the sun must rise at 8 P.M., I would immediately go to court and say that that was not the intent of the lawmaker."
In recent years, ministers and MKs have made various proposals to deal with the fact that the Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law ostensibly contradicts the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, and also infringes on the right to family life and equality. However, none of these proposals have come to fruition. Rotem says he does not want to limit the court, but rather "to enshrine legislation that has already passed. The Knesset's job is to make the laws, and the court's job is to interpret it."
According to Rotem's proposal, the amendment to the Basic Law would state that there is no conflict between it and the Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law.
Among the MKs supporting the amendment are Michael Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Ofir Akunis and Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), and Tzachi Hanegbi, Yohanan Plesner and Nahman Shai (Kadima).
Former Meretz-Yahad MK Zahava Gal-On, one of the petitioners to annul the Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law, reacted angrily yesterday to the fact that so many lawmakers are supporting Rotem's amendment. "The Knesset wants to enshrine racism ... in a Basic Law," she said.
Gal-On noted that when the High Court extended the Citizenship Law in 2006, it said the law was racist and unacceptable, but it could stand because it was temporary.
In the 2006 ruling, Justice Edmond Levy - who agreed with the minority opinion of the bench that the law was disproportionate, yet joined the majority opinion not to strike it down - wrote that an alternative must be found to the overall prohibition against Palestinians married to Israelis receiving citizenship, and cases must be examined individually.
Among the petitioners against the law is the human rights organization Adalah, which presented three legal opinions stating that no democratic country has a similar law discriminating citizens based on ethnicity or nationality against the right to family life.
The public movement Fence for Life, established at the time to support construction of the security fence, recently said it wants to present its opinion to the High Court that the petitions against the law are "among the most dangerous in the history of Israel."
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Why should a law banning Palestinians from moving to Israel be Racist ? No country at war allows enemy aliens to into their country.
We need a law that is fair and equal to all. Citizenship can be conferred after marriage - based on criteria (like most normal countries). There is no reason to prevent Palestinians from becoming Israeli citizens - if immigration laws are re-focused to: 1. Require loyalty to the state and service in the military (for children of the union). 2. No dual citizenship with countries that are war with Israel. 3. A real, authentic and verifiable marriage union. 4. Taking a citizenship test and swearing an oath. If all citizenships via marriage were handled this way - there would be few problems.
Actually Naftali, it is ISRAEL law that forbids jews to live in PA territory. PA law has NO distinctions based on either religion or ethnicity! I recomend you, and the others check this out and apologize to us.
this amendment and the citizenship law are fine examples of built-in discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who because of family ties, seek to marry Palestinians in the West Bank. Some "democracy" we are...
"Jews are NOT allowed to live on the PA controlled territory or Gaza. Equality for both sides or for none." Not true. Some Jews do live in Gaza and the WB. When she was first assigned to cover Gaza, Amira Hass moved there and lived among Pals. In her book, said that she became accepted and had no problems. It would have been different had she moved to a settlement, but nothing prevented her from living on property not wrongfully seized by Israel. Name any law, incident or any evidence whatsoever to support your fantasy. If you are talking about settlers, the problem is not their race or religion, but nationality. They are Israeli colonists illegally colonizing occupied land, supported and subsdized by the occupying power. If a Jew wants to move to the WB outside of an Israeli settlement, there is nothing to stop him or her.
Lets not be naive here. Our usual Israel Haters are assuming these marriages described are romantic,legitimate marriages, rather than paper work shams designed to sneak Palestinian terrorists past Israeli security.
CJ, you mean all other countries allow their active enemies to repopulate their countries? If you forgot this are the people that openly declare their intention to destroy Israel.
Muslim marriages are arranged, in these cases they are arranged for the precise reason to populate Israel with as many Muslims as possible. When Jordan Saudi Arabia or even Gazan's will allow Jewish people to live in their countries and same right as Arabs do in Israel you should talk. Israel allowed this to go on for a long time, they finally came to their senses.
What if in America, there was a law preventing Protestants from marrying Catholics, or a law keeping whites from marrying blacks? We would call those laws xenophobic or racist. But in Israel, the choosen people must protect their gene poo, so its perfectly apropos.
To Israel, what if the US denied citizenship to all spouses of Jews who immigrate to America? AIPAC might have to disband and go elsewhere. Get a constitution, quit being exclusively Jewish, and then lets talk about "democracy." The Zionist "project" is doomed by people like Kaham.
so if it came to a war you would fight for Israel but have no problem keeping the british passport, 'just in case' eh?...tear it up you don't deserve it. and the UK does not need your half arsed proxy vote..
And Israel claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East! Ha!
#8 Austria, Poland, Germany and Yes all of Europe will grant you citizenship if you prove that your grandparents were from that country and were forced to flee during WW2. Many of your folks got citizenship in the coutries they fled and further they are slowly are getting the property that was stolen from them. Get your fact straight.
impossible when two countries are at war
For once I agree with you that at times dual loyalty can be a problem. I moved from the UK to Israel 10 years ago but I still keep an up to date British passport, I vote in elections via postal votes because I do legitimately want the best for England. Interests can conflict at times when its England v Israel in a political standoff. Right now some MKS want to boycott British goods I have mixed feelings about that part of me says go for it the other half says its not going to serve any useful purpose except hurt British business. I think if it came to a showdown my loyalties would be with Israel certainly if it ever came to a military conflict then there would be no question of who I would choose to fight for and its not queen & country.
"All around the western world there are laws that will allow you to marry a citizen of their state ....Marriage will give you a long term residency permit so you can live with your partner it just doesn`t give you full citizenship" Have you read the Law. Perhaps you'd better. "the Minister of the Interior shall not grant the inhabitant of an area citizenship on the basis of the Citizenship law, and shall not give him a license to reside in Israel on the basis of the Entry into Israel Law" "If I discovered I had some long lost relative living in Australia what do you thing the authorities would say if I told them I want citizenship because my relative lives here?" "OK. Fill out an application." Meanwhile there is no other country on the planet that applies such a law to ONLY one particular group of people.
The problem of "dual loyalty" can be solved simply by looking to Israel. Certainly one cannot be faulted for "anti-semitism" for following Israels example.
Rachel, there are already several tens of thousands of Jews living in Palestinian Territory...they are called settlers.
For example: According to UK laws Londonderry, N. iRELAND is part of the UK , despite the fact that 95% of its population is Catholic and wants to be part of the Irish Republic. There is no free choice there, no democracy and no referendum. Stop preaching democracy to Israel!
According to the Palestinian customs , the bride goes and lives in the husband's village. What happens in Israel is that the Palis use the marriage for fulfilling the "right of return". In 99% of the cases the new couples opt and insist on living in the "Zionist entity". Yet, Jews are NOT allowed to live on the PA controlled territory or Gaza. Equality for both sides or for none.
I used Australia as an example to point out that laws like this don't only apply to Israel so why single Israel out other them other than the fact everybody feels sorry for the arabs? Every country has its own immigration laws and as Israel chose to give automatic citizenship rights to jews as its officially a Jewish state and there are plenty of countries with official religions of state not just Israel. In the UK you can only be king or queen if your Church of England the national religion. If Prince Charles converted to another faith could he still be king? Non jews are allowed to apply they just don't have a right to it The youngest is was a new born baby in 1948 most never seeing a jewish soldier. It was custom at that time that when there were wars families left their homes planning to return after the war it just didn't go as planned this time. Their grandchildren & great grandchildren are no more refugees than I am because my grandparents were refugees from Nazi Austria.
"If I discovered I had some long lost relative living in Australia what do you thing the authorities would say if I told them I want citizenship because my relative lives here?" You've tied yourself in knots there Zionist Forever. Replace the word Australia with Israel and it still sounds just as ridiculous, yet Jews who've never visited Israel have the right to live there, while Pals kicked out of there 60 years ago don't.
You mean that other countries single out banning marriage to just one particular nationality? Israeli's can bring husbands and wives from every other country but specifically cannot marry Palestinians. What sort of facist racism is that? Many Israeli's are Arabs by the way, with Palestinian origin. One law for one portion of the population and another law for the rest. Strange country!
All around the western world there are laws that will allow you to marry a citizen of their state but marriage isn't an automatic qualification for citizenship. Marriage will give you a long term residency permit so you can live with your partner it just doesn't give you full citizenship In the US a foreigner can marry an American citizen and although they will be allowed to live there with their American partner the don't get automatic citizenship Also the idea that just because you have relatives living here means that you have a right to come and live in Israel as a full citizen is rediculous. If I discovered I had some long lost relative living in Australia what do you thing the authorities would say if I told them I want citizenship because my relative lives here? These rules are not breaching an individuals human dignity it is simpley that Israel has always had very lax laws when it comes to granting non jews citizenship. This is just introducing a reasonable but tougher laws
Thanks....
The issue is with Palestinians marrying Israeli Arabs in order to move to Israel, the motivation is to live and raise a family under better social conditions. This is a natural desire given the sub-standard conditions of the West Bank. The problem for Israel is that Jews wanting to live in the West Bank are are forbidden under PA law, and actively resisted by the Arab Palestinians. If Arabs want to live in Israel, Jews should be able to live where they want to in West Bank, guaranteed protection and rights by PA law. The pendulum has to swing both ways for demographics to shift fairly for everyone.
If those Israelies love the Pals or Arabs so much, well then - send them to live among those people. Those people like the Left in Israel cause only divisions and are not loyal to Israel as they should - look at the human rights groups in Israel advocating for the Palettian cause etc, etc, etc,etc.
We have seen many instances of Palestinian Arabs marrying Israelis or getting Israeli Jewish girlfriends or Arabs in order to smuggle drugs, commit acts of terrorism, spy and many criminal acts in Israel using marriage or the relationship as the way in. We cannot allow this weakness nor can we allow our demographics to be attacked by Arabs using marriage as a way to undermine the Jewish state.