Knesset approves ' racist ' citizenship bill

Knesset approves ' racist ' citizenship bill

By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

07/31/03: (Haaretz) The Knesset plenum approved Thursday the second and third readings of a bill to prevent Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving citizenship or permanent residency status.

The bill, which has been denounced by its opponents as 'racist' and 'inhumane,' passed by a majority of 53 votes to 25, with one abstention.

The vote on the amendment to a clause in the citizenship law relating to family unification was preceded by efforts by the
opposition to stall the ballot.

Labor, Meretz and Arab parties asked that the vote be a vote of no confidence in the government, which would delay the ballot. But Acting Prime Minister Silvan Shalom rejected this request, saying that the vote would be viewed by the overnment as a vote of confidence, and therefore could go ahead immediately.

MK Avraham Burg (Labor) said that according to Knesset regulations, the prime minister must announce in person that he views the vote as a vote of confidence in the government, and therefore such a move could not take place without approval from the absent Ariel Sharon.

But Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin then received Sharon's approval in a telephone conversation, making it possible for the ballot to go ahead.

Ahead of the vote, Army Radio reported that at least three Shinui Knesset members who opposed the bill were likely to keep to coalition expectations and abstain from the vote, rather than voting against the bill.

On Wednesday night, Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (Hadash) attacked Interior Minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui) for supporting the bill, Army Radio reported.

"How can you call yourself a liberal?" Tibi asked.

Poraz has said he wasn't "thrilled" with the bill and wished it weren't necessary, but would abide by it if it became law.

The Knesset Interior and Environment Committee voted Wednesday night for the second time that day to approve the bill. Knesset Speaker Rivlin decided Wednesday evening to agree to Meretz MK Roman Bronfman's request to conduct a re-vote in the committee, which earlier approved the bill 8-0 in the absence of bill opponents.

The MKs who opposed the bill boycotted the vote to protest what they said was insufficient time to explain the reasons for their reservations.

Bill supporters noted that Palestinians who received Israeli citizenship by marriage were playing a growing role in terror attacks, a phenomenon that the director the Shin Bet security service Avi Dichter described in a closed session Tuesday.

Most of those who will be affected by the amendment are Israeli Arabs who marry Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza, who will now be unable to live together in Israel.

The committee had been scheduled to vote on the matter on Tuesday, but the vote on an amended version of the bill was postponed following a stormy debate.

The committee's legal adviser had recommended amending the bill, saying the original version constituted an excessive infringement of civil rights.

According to the new version, the interior minister may grant citizenship or a six-month residency permit in special cases. The previous version allowed the minister to grant citizenship or a three-month residency permit only to Palestinians who "identify with Israel and its goals" and have acted to defend Israeli security.

The bill, which must be re-approved annually, will be passed by the full Knesset plenum to allow for parliamentary scrutiny.

Local and international human rights groups have decried the bill as racist, saying it creates an impossible situation in which couples will either have to separate or move abroad.

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