MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism party) explained his decision to vote against the citizenship law which would prevent the reunification of Arab families from the Palestinian Authority in Israel.
"The Citizenship Law (Temporary Order) was a dilapidated wall, but it was still a wall. For years, a stern guard, the Israeli government, who did not want to bring even one Palestinian into Israel, sat at the gate of this wall. Sometimes [the government] was forced, under pressure from the High Court and Attorney General, to approve an entry here and entry there. Maybe it even turned a blind eye to whoever entered through the loopholes. But by and large, the blocking of the stern guard was quite effective," Rothman said,
According to Rothman, the presence of the United Arab List in the coalition will prevent the citizenship law from being enforced even if it is renewed. "At the same time that a government was formed with the supporters of terrorism from Ra'am, the guard was replaced. In place of a stern guard, Mansour Abbas, a smiling teddy bear, who is interested in the entry of thousands of Palestinians a month, sits there and opens the gate for them at every opportunity."
"Therefore, the law (wall) that has been so far, no longer helps. It is even harmful because it gives us a false sense of security. Therefore, the law must be amended, and security cameras must be added to the wall, as well as a detailed instruction sheet for the guard that limits the quantities of entrants (quotas). Until that happens, the vote for the "original without change" citizenship law as required by Shaked means giving Mansour Abbas more power to blackmail the coalition and bring in thousands of Palestinians.
"The Basic Law on Immigration (or in its full name, the Basic Law on Immigration and Status in Israel) establishes a mechanism of quotas for all issues of immigration. If they had agreed to promote it, it would have solved the problem. Since the coalition did not agree to promote the Basic Law on Immigration, we proposed promoting a mechanism of quotas and transparency in the Citizenship Law itself. (I have already placed such a private bill on the Knesset table and gotten 27 MKs) to sign on. Shaked did not agree to pass the law with the quotas, so the negotiations broke down," he said,
Rothman accused Ayelet Shaked, the Yamina party and the entire coalition of being "in Mansour Abbas' pocket."
"In fact, she wants us to pass the law in its original version, so that she can seat Mansour Abbas in the guard's chair, and this time with our help," he said,