fbpx

Israel’s Supreme Court upholds limit on family reunifications

Israel\'s Supreme Court voted by a narrow margin to uphold a law that prevents Israelis who marry Palestinians from living in Israel.
[additional-authors]
January 12, 2012

Israel’s Supreme Court voted by a narrow margin to uphold a law that prevents Israelis who marry Palestinians from living in Israel.

The panel of judges late Wednesday evening rejected a lawsuit against the Citizenship Law by a vote of 6 to 5.

The majority opinion justices wrote in their ruling that they recognize the constitutional right for family reunification, but said that the reunification does not have to occur inside Israel.

The Citizenship Law was passed in 2003. Under the law, a West Bank Palestinian may only obtain citizenship if he can prove that he identifies with the State of Israel or has made a contribution to Israel’s security. A Palestinian husband must be at least 36 years of age or a Palestinian wife must be at least 26 for family reunification, according to Haaretz.

“It is a dark day for the protection of human rights and for the Israeli High Court of Justice. The court has failed to uphold basic human rights in the face of the tyranny of the Knesset majority. The majority opinion has stamped its approval on a racist law, one will harm the very texture of the lives of families whose only sin is the Palestinian blood that runs in their veins,” said attorneys Dan Yakir and Oded Feller from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in a statement.

Since 1993, more than 100,000 Palestinians have received permission to live in Israel, according to Haaretz.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Losing One’s True North

Normally we say goodbye to our loved ones, as they fly back to their normal lives, but what is normal about the lives they fly back to at this moment in time?

Peter Beinart’s Rapture

Instead of correcting some of the hyperbolic anti-Israel “reporting” that has so blurred people’s capacity to know what is going on, he pours fuel on the flames of ignorance and perpetuates a rhetoric that lays blame for the whole conflict primarily or solely on Israel.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.