Ahead of June 30, 2017, the expiration date of the Citizenship and Entry in to Israel Law, the government passed its request to extend the law for review by the joint committee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Internal Affairs Committee that was to provide its recommendation on the matter to the Knesset plenum. At the end of the hearing held on May 29, 2017, the
joint committee recommended the law be extended as it was.
Following the recommendation to extend the law – now for the 14th year(!),
HaMoked sent a letter to the Knesset legal advisor, reiterating its staunch position that the Citizenship and Entry into Israel law was unconstitutional and must be voided. HaMoked went on to say that as it appeared that the legislator was not about to cancel the law at present, the Knesset should at least oppose the validity extension of the law in its current form, which needless harmed the rights of minors and adults in certain age groups.
HaMoked noted that the law in its present form left Palestinian minors aged 14-18, who have one Israeli resident parent and another who is a resident of the OPT, without status or social security rights in Israel, despite the fact that data of the security establishment did not point to an increased “security risk” emanating from this population. Thus also with regard to the population of adult Palestinians – women over 50 and men over 55 – taking part in the family unification procedure or applying for Israeli status on humanitarian grounds. HaMoked pointed out that the state had been persistently refusing to give such people status and social security rights in Israel, even after they had been living in Israel lawfully for many years – ostensibly on security grounds – while allowing Palestinians from the OPT in the same age groups to enter Israel on a daily basis and without restriction.
HaMoked stresses that approval of the law in its current form, despite the difficulties surrounding the data presented in the joint committee’s recent hearings, would indicate that the matter is not being considered with due gravity but carried out automatically, without any attempt to limit the scope of the harm the law causes to various populations.
