The family reunification law, which could lead to the collapse of the weak coalition, is one of the cardinal conflicts between Israel as a Jewish state and its Arab citizens. Both sides, the Arab minority and the Jewish majority, view the law strictly through their own prism. To a certain degree, both sides are right, hence a compromise is necessary.
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There's no question this is a complicated, difficult law for the state and its institutions, as well as for the majority Jewish public, and we must be honest and understanding of its concerns and sensitivities in terms of the demographic issue. On the other hand, the law violates one of the fundamental principles of democracy and civil and human rights, and only prevents Arab citizens from freely choosing with whom they want to start a relationship and family. The expectation that whoever wants to share his or her life with a Palestinian should "go and live over there" is also very damaging and unreasonable.
Since the establishment of the state, many Arab citizens have married non-citizens of Israel, and anyone who isn't Palestinian can move to Israel, receive a residency visa and then after several years, as determined by the law, receive Israeli citizenship. This is only off-limits to Palestinians, even if they also hold Jordanian citizenship. This is one of the great injustices and dozens if not hundreds of appeals have been submitted to the courts on the matter. These partially achieved their objective when the courts forced the state to also offer citizenship to the husbands and wives of Arab citizens.
The law that prevents citizenship, the so-called "law barring family unification," has been re-ratified annually for the past 18 years, for security purposes but more accurately for demographic purposes. Although it was initially approved due to a horrific wave of terror that ravaged the country, which provided a base of public consensus for its ratification despite its contravention of fundamental civil and human rights, its status has always been "temporary." It appears it was convenient for the governments of Israel to keep the law "temporary" for almost two decades, relying on the High Court of Justice not to repeal it. No one ever bothered to resolve this matter on a permanent basis.
Don't kid yourselves. Although it isn't officially recognized, on a practical level widespread "family unification" exists today. Many Arab Israeli men, mainly from the Wadi Ara "triangle area" and the Negev Desert, marry Palestinian women; they are just recognized officially as "single-parent families." Therefore, not only is there a massive "import" of partners from across the separation barrier, but it also creates a heavy welfare burden on Arab municipalities and on the state, which de-facto subsidizes this unrecognized family unification.
This issue requires legislative regulation that also takes into account Israel's security concerns. The alternative is the ongoing development of a bubble under the public radar, and the social and political situation could become even more complex and volatile.
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