The General Security Service (Shin Bet) official called on the committee to extend a ban on family reunification which allows Palestinian Authority Arabs to become an Israeli citizen through marriage. The temporary ban on reunification is slated to expire on January 16th.
The law was passed by a slim margin in May 2006 by the High Court of Justice after a 6-5 vote. Judges added, however, that officials needed to address humanitarian issues raised by the ban.
If the law is extended, humanitarian concerns will be more prominent this time around,according to the Haaretz daily. A professional committee will be able to recommend to the Interior Minister that a person be granted an entry permit, a work permit and temporary residency for humanitarian reasons.
At the same time, the Interior Minister will have the right to reject citizenship requests by Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese residents.
PA Arab males over the age of 35 and women over the age of 25 have been allowed to marry Israeli citizens since the summer of 2005. The IDF also continues to grant permits for up to six months for PA Arabs to enter Israel for medical treatment.
The Shin Bet security official noted in his testimony that 14 percent of the 272 suicide bombings that have cost Israeli civilians their lives were carried out by PA Arabs who had married Israeli citizens and came to live inside the pre-1967 borders of the Jewish State under reunification. He said it was absolutely essential that the law be extended in order to prevent a further deterioration in the security situation.
Also advocating extension of the law was Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass, who said it was essential to extend the ban, which expires on January 16th. Blass said the number of security threats remains high.
A rise in the number of women who have joined the terrorist “work force” was also cited as a reason to continue the ban. Justice Ministry attorney Yochi Gansin told the committee that married women as well as widows, educated and uneducated, are increasing their involvement in terrorist activities.
Despite the calls by security and justice officials to extend the law, however, most of the committee members opposed it. Israeli Arab Knesset member (Ra’am – Ta’al party) Ahmed Tibi charged that the “rationale behind the law is not security, but demographics.”
Meretz Knesset member Yossi Beilin called it “a draconian law that has no place in the book of laws.”
Hadash Knesset member Dov Khenin called the ban “a bad law that harms human and civil rights.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also opposes extending the law. Attorney Oded Peler claimed the extension would continue a situation in which an entire population was being punished for the deeds of a few. He added that the law harms family life and violates individuals’ constitutional rights to personal freedom, dignity, equality and privacy.
Committee Chairman and Labor Knesset member Raleb Majadele slammed calls to extend the law as well. He demanded to see statistics on the percentage of suicide bombers in the general population of PA Arabs who were granted residency permits in Israel – not only those who were granted citizenship under the family reunification law.
Meanwhile, statistics on terrorist activity in 2006 were released Monday by a senior officer in the IDF Central Command.
According to the report, 19 Israelis died in suicide attacks last year, the lowest figure since 2001. The reason for the drop, according to the IDF officer, was the army’s successful destruction of a major Islamic Jihad terrorist cell in northern Samaria.
Hundreds of attacks were averted; a total of 303 explosive devices were detonated. In addition, 130 terrorists were killed in Judea and Samaria in 559 shooting incidents. Eight PA Arab civilians were killed by being caught in the crossfire in various incidents.
The law was passed by a slim margin in May 2006 by the High Court of Justice after a 6-5 vote. Judges added, however, that officials needed to address humanitarian issues raised by the ban.
If the law is extended, humanitarian concerns will be more prominent this time around,according to the Haaretz daily. A professional committee will be able to recommend to the Interior Minister that a person be granted an entry permit, a work permit and temporary residency for humanitarian reasons.
At the same time, the Interior Minister will have the right to reject citizenship requests by Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese residents.
PA Arab males over the age of 35 and women over the age of 25 have been allowed to marry Israeli citizens since the summer of 2005. The IDF also continues to grant permits for up to six months for PA Arabs to enter Israel for medical treatment.
The Shin Bet security official noted in his testimony that 14 percent of the 272 suicide bombings that have cost Israeli civilians their lives were carried out by PA Arabs who had married Israeli citizens and came to live inside the pre-1967 borders of the Jewish State under reunification. He said it was absolutely essential that the law be extended in order to prevent a further deterioration in the security situation.
Also advocating extension of the law was Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass, who said it was essential to extend the ban, which expires on January 16th. Blass said the number of security threats remains high.
A rise in the number of women who have joined the terrorist “work force” was also cited as a reason to continue the ban. Justice Ministry attorney Yochi Gansin told the committee that married women as well as widows, educated and uneducated, are increasing their involvement in terrorist activities.
Despite the calls by security and justice officials to extend the law, however, most of the committee members opposed it. Israeli Arab Knesset member (Ra’am – Ta’al party) Ahmed Tibi charged that the “rationale behind the law is not security, but demographics.”
Meretz Knesset member Yossi Beilin called it “a draconian law that has no place in the book of laws.”
Hadash Knesset member Dov Khenin called the ban “a bad law that harms human and civil rights.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also opposes extending the law. Attorney Oded Peler claimed the extension would continue a situation in which an entire population was being punished for the deeds of a few. He added that the law harms family life and violates individuals’ constitutional rights to personal freedom, dignity, equality and privacy.
Committee Chairman and Labor Knesset member Raleb Majadele slammed calls to extend the law as well. He demanded to see statistics on the percentage of suicide bombers in the general population of PA Arabs who were granted residency permits in Israel – not only those who were granted citizenship under the family reunification law.
Meanwhile, statistics on terrorist activity in 2006 were released Monday by a senior officer in the IDF Central Command.
According to the report, 19 Israelis died in suicide attacks last year, the lowest figure since 2001. The reason for the drop, according to the IDF officer, was the army’s successful destruction of a major Islamic Jihad terrorist cell in northern Samaria.
Hundreds of attacks were averted; a total of 303 explosive devices were detonated. In addition, 130 terrorists were killed in Judea and Samaria in 559 shooting incidents. Eight PA Arab civilians were killed by being caught in the crossfire in various incidents.