Center for the Defence of the Individual - Following a prolonged struggle by HaMoked: the military issued permits to two Palestinians, who live in Israel pursuant to temporary stay permits, to drive in Israel for the purpose of taking their sick children to medical appointments
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
12.09.2018

Following a prolonged struggle by HaMoked: the military issued permits to two Palestinians, who live in Israel pursuant to temporary stay permits, to drive in Israel for the purpose of taking their sick children to medical appointments

For years, Israel's transport regulations prohibited the issuance of permits for driving in Israel to residents of the occupied territories, including Palestinians who live in Israel legally pursuant to temporary permits issued as part of family unification procedures. Following a petition submitted by HaMoked in 2013, the military published a procedure regulating the process of issuing permits for driving in Israel to Palestinians originally from the occupied territories. The procedure does not define a timeline for handling such requests, and sets extremely rigid criteria for issuing permits. As a rule, permits may only be issued in cases where there is an exceptional humanitarian need, such as a child who suffers from a serious medical condition and requires frequent transport to medical appointments.


On May 13, 2018, HaMoked submitted a request for a permit to drive in Israel on behalf of a Palestinian man, originally a resident of Hebron, who has been married to an Israeli citizen since 1995. The couple, whose request for family unification in Israel was approved in 2012, has two sick daughters who require frequent treatment in hospitals around the country. One of the girls, who has leukemia, was prohibited from using public transport by her doctors because her immune system has been severely weakened as a result of the treatment she receives.


At the time the request was submitted, the father met all the criteria set out in the procedure, but on July 9, 2018 the military stated that the request would only be examined if the man renewed his stay permit in Israel. HaMoked complied with the military's demand despite its deviation from the procedure, and on August 8, 2018, submitted a copy of the man's new stay permit to the military. But the military continued to drag its feet, and issued a permit for the man to drive in Israel only on September 4, 2018, after HaMoked submitted a no-response complaint to the head of the civil administration. The permit allows the man to drive in Israel only for the purpose of taking his daughters to their medical appointments.


In parallel to this request, on June 19, 2018, HaMoked submitted a request to renew a permit for driving in Israel on behalf of a Palestinian who has been living in East Jerusalem since 2003 with his wife, a resident of the city. The couple's son suffers from a serious disability, and requires daily transport to a special educational establishment, and frequent transport to medical appointments. The military similarly dragged its feet in this case, leaving the father without a valid permit for driving in Israel for two months, and finally issued a new permit on September 4, 2018.


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