Arab construction worker / archive
Arab construction worker / archiveIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Lawmakers are working on a bill to make permanent a temporary law that would punish Israelis who help Palestinian Authority Arabs without the proper permits to seek work illegally on the "wrong side of the border."

The measure would establish specific penalties for Israeli citizens who assist such Arabs by providing shelter, food, transportation, employment in any form or any other assistance.

The proposed law passed its first reading in the Knesset on Monday night by a vote of 36 to 7.

The bill now goes to the Knesset Committees for the Interior and the Environment to be reviewed and amended prior to its second and third (final) reading.

Ramallah-based PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has said repeatedly that he is determined that should the Palestinian Authority ever become an independent sovereign nation, every Jew will be driven out from PA-controlled lands. "Not one Jew," he has announced proudly, will be allowed to live in the country the Arab world refers to as "Palestine."