Israel extends a law that bans unifying the ranks of Arab families

The Israeli government yesterday extended for 6 months a law preventing the Palestinians married to Israeli Palestinians from living in Israel or getting the Israeli nationality.

Israeli organizations in defense of human rights and Arab parliamentarians described this law as "racial" and "discriminatory." It was also deplored by Amnesty International and the UN committee to eliminating racial discrimination.

However, the Israeli government promised to introduce amendments to the law to permit, in certain cases, giving nationality to the Palestinian partner, or at least giving him the right to reside together with the children of the couple. Opposers of the law considered these amendments as not enough. During a meeting for the Israeli government, Shein Beit chairman ( internal security) Ave Dikhter underlined the importance of extending work in the law. He stressed that during the past 10 years " some 100,000 Palestinian moved to Israel as a result of marriages relations with Israeli Arabs." He explained that 26% of those Palestinians or their children took part in resistance operations.