Meretz chief says party won’t back law against Palestinian family reunification

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz told close confidants Thursday that his left-wing Meretz party will not officially back the government in extending the Palestinian family reunification law, legislation that the coalition has struggled to pass even though it is supported in principle by most lawmakers in the Knesset.

Meretz is considering a plan in which some of its six lawmakers would support the law’s renewal and others would skip the vote, the Ynet news site reported.

The law, which blocks the automatic granting of citizenship to Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens, expires on July 6.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked of Yamina reportedly intends to bring the troubled legislation for a Knesset vote on Monday, July 5, in order to beat the deadline. The government wants to extend the law by another year.

Likud MK Eli Cohen told Ynet that his party would be prepared to back a short extension of the reunification law on the condition that the government backs a Likud bill on changes to immigration legislation that would permanently block reunification in the future.

“Of course we oppose the entry of Palestinians into Israeli territory but the vote that we are talking about is a no-confidence vote,” Cohen said. “We presented the coalition with a clear proposal that said we will give you an extension of two months for the citizenship [reunification] law and in the meantime we will advance the Basic Immigration Law.”

Cohen was referring to the Likud proposal to revise Israeli immigration policies so as to permanently prevent Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving citizenship.

That legislation — which has been introduced but abandoned in the past — aims to limit and restrict immigration to Israel, and provide the state with greater capabilities in deporting those residing in the country illegally.

A vote on extending the reunification law was postponed Tuesday when the coalition realized it had yet to secure a majority. With the coalition holding the narrowest possible one-seat majority in the Knesset, every vote can theoretically be torpedoed by just one lawmaker.

According to Ynet, members of the coalition are hoping to convince the four MKs in the Ra’am Party, an Arab Islamist faction in the coalition, to abstain rather than vote against renewing the law. But last week, Ra’am MK Walid Taha vowed that he would never vote in favor or abstain from voting on the legislation, which he called “racist and anti-democratic.”

Shaked has reportedly threatened MKs in Ra’am and Meretz that if they didn’t support the legislation, the coalition would work to advance a quasi-constitutional law that would overhaul the immigration system in Israel, and ease the way for a greater number of deportations — similar to the Likud bill.

Members of Likud and other opposition parties — who support the reunification bill in principle, but have vowed to oppose it in order to embarrass the government — have indicated that they may vote in favor of the bill if the immigration legislation is introduced.

Family reunification in Israel typically involves an Israeli citizen requesting citizenship for their non-Israeli spouse. Most unification applications are submitted by Arab Israelis on behalf of a Palestinian spouse living in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

The measure limiting family reunification was first passed in 2003 due to concerns that it was being abused by members of terror groups to gain access to Israel, making it harder for Palestinians to gain Israeli citizenship or residency through marriage.

The controversial law has been extended every year since, usually with strong backing from Likud and other right-wing parties.