The Israeli Knesset did not extend the ban on Palestinian family unification

This morning (6 June 2021), the Israeli Knesset rejected the extension of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel (Temporary Order) Law – 2003, which bans the unification of Palestinian families in Israel, e.g., predominantly Palestinians with Israeli citizenship married to Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It also bans unification with spouses from “enemy states”, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. The order, which is set to expire today, passed 18 years ago, and since then, it has been renewed 22 consecutive times. Adalah challenged the temporary order before the Israeli Supreme Court in two different petitions, with the court upholding the ban both times, in 2006 and in 2012. Adalah has consistently opposed its renewal.

 

Following the vote in the Knesset today Adalah issued the following statement:
“This law is one of most discriminatory and racist laws promulgated by Israel. No democratic country in the world denies residency or citizenship to spouses of its own citizens on the basis of their spouses’ national, racial, or ethnic affiliation, while simultaneously labeling them as enemies. We hope that after the vote today, the Israeli Government will now accept and process family unification applications from Palestinians, with fair, substantive, and prompt consideration, and that Palestinian citizens will be able to fully exercise their basic right to family life. Adalah will continue to monitor the developments and work to ensure that this right is not infringed upon by other means. The continued failure of the Israeli legal system to guarantee the basic rights of Palestinians citizens of Israel, who are discriminated against on the basis of their national and ethnic identity, is a reminder of the urgent need to abolish Jewish supremacy, as entrenched in the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Basic Law.”

For more on Adalah’s position click here