Israel's Cabinet seeks to extend Palestinian marriage law
Israel’s Cabinet today approved the extension of a law banning Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs from living in Israel.
The law, enacted last year for an initial one-year period, was extended by six months. It still needs parliamentary approval.
Arabs make up about 20% of Israel’s population of 6.6 million, while about three million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many families were divided by ceasefire lines after Middle East wars, and over the years, marriage between the two groups has been common.
Israeli-Arab legislator Azmi Bishara denounced the Cabinet’s decision, calling it “racist”.
He said: “There is an international democratic consensus that the Israeli law discriminates against large numbers of Israeli citizens.”
An Israeli Cabinet minister said last year that between 1993 and 2003, 100,000 Palestinians received Israeli residence permits through marriage, and that the law was needed to halt the influx.
Other supporters justified it on the grounds that it would keep potential suicide bombers out of the country.
The law also separates Palestinians from traditionally Arab east Jerusalem - who carry Israeli residence papers – from spouses and family in the adjacent West Bank, the group said.
Israeli and Jerusalem Arabs may join spouses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but health and social services are inferior to those in Israel. In the Palestinian territories, unemployment is high and life is frequently interrupted and endangered by Israeli military operations.
A United Nations committee last year called for the Israeli law to be scrapped, saying it “raises serious issues” of compliance with an international human rights treaty.
