New report by B'Tselem and HaMoked: Following enactment of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law on 31 July 2003, thousands of couples will be forced to live apart. Children will be separated from their parents at the age of 12 or will become lawbreakers through no fault of their own. Many families will remain in Israel with no legal status in order to live together.

Today, B'Tselem and HaMoked released a report describing the implications for residents of East Jerusalem of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763-2003. The report demonstrates that Israel deliberately misstated the purpose of the law, claiming it was necessary for security reasons, in order to conceal the real basis for the legislation - demographic concerns. Yet, even the security claims are refuted: According to Interior Ministry's figures, 23 of the 100,000-140,000 Palestinians who came to Israel through the family unification process - only some 0.02 percent - ostensibly took some part in attacks against Israelis. As such, the law constitutes severe collective punishment, a form of discrimination with no legitimate basis.

B'Tselem and HaMoked urge the government of Israel to change its policy and treat its citizens and residents equally, and call on the Knesset to repeal the new law. The Interior Ministry must reinstate the procedures for family unification and the registration of children, and process these requests efficiently and fairly. These procedures must recognize the right of residents of East Jerusalem to marry whomever they choose and to live with their spouse and children wherever they wish.

Background:

On 31 March 2002, then-Minister of Interior, Eli Yishai, froze the handling of all applications for family unification for Palestinians - the process through which an alien spouse received legal status in Israel. Some two months later, on 12 May, the government of Israel decided to maintain the freeze "until a new policy was formulated." On 31 July 2003, the Knesset enacted the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5763-2003. The law prohibits Israeli residents who married, or who in the future marry residents of the Occupied Territories to live with them in Israel. The law also makes it impossible to register children born in the Occupied Territories to parents who are Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. Except for this sweeping prohibition, no "new policy" has been drafted. A number of petitions have been filed with the High Court of Justice challenging the government's decision and the new law. These petitions are currently pending.