Lapid, Netanyahu trade barbs over extension of Palestinian immigration order

The coalition and opposition heads trade strong accusations over the extension of a temporary order barring Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from acquiring Israeli residency — a law that has been repeatedly extended by Netanyahu governments, though the former premier is now threatening to oppose it in order  to challenge the new government.

At a Yesh Atid faction meeting, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid calls on the opposition to “come to its senses.”

“Be an opposition to us, the government; don’t be an opposition to the State of Israel and to Israeli citizens,” Lapid says, accusing the opposition of spreading “lies” saying he intends to give up Israel’s right to act independently against Iran and that the US is planning to revoke the recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory.

Lapid adds that when he was in the opposition, he supported the Palestinian spouse order on grounds that it was necessary to guarantee Israel’s Jewish character and prevent terror supporters from moving to Israel.

In his Likud faction meeting, Benjamin Netanyahu says he will only back the extension if the government on the same day passes a quasi-constitutional Basic Law on immigration to Israel, claiming the temporary order — which he extended repeatedly for more than a decade — was insufficient.

“If the government cannot pass this law — it has no right to exist,” says Netanyahu, whose governments similarly didn’t pass such a law for over a decade.

Coalition party heads respond by saying in a statement that “Netanyahu cannot let go of his bad habit of trying to paralyze the country; we prefer to focus on creating solutions.”