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War on Terror

Israel resists Arab fifth column

High Court upholds law banning entry of 'Palestinian' spouses


By Ryan Jones
May 14, 2006

Israel's High Court has upheld the government's right to combat the growth of a radicalized Arab fifth column by denying some Palestinian Arabs the right to live within sovereign Israel with their Israeli Arab spouses.

The government first introduced the "family unification" amendment to Israel's Citizenship Law in 2002, at the height of the Oslo War, as a means of thwarting infiltration by terrorist elements.

Despite a rash of petitions by "human rights" organizations, ultra-leftist Jewish and Arab Knesset members, and a number of Israeli-Palestinian couples, a panel of 11 justices voted 6-5 Sunday in favor of keeping the amendment.

Arab MKs immediately issued unfounded cries of "racism!"

But State Attorney Yochi Gansin noted that out of the 146 successful terror attacks executed prior to the implementation of the law, 26 were carried out by Palestinian Arabs who had gained entered to sovereign Israel by virtue of their marriage to local Arabs.

Speaking to Ynet, Gansin said:

"This law is legitimate as a way to deal with this phenomenon."

Justice Mishael Cheshin, the most senior justice to vote in favor of the law, expressed similar sentiment during a debate on the matter in February.

"...are the State of Israel's defensive efforts against terror attacks, against lone individuals carrying out attacks not a sufficient enough reason to prevent their entry?

"Why should we take chances during wartime? Did England and America take chances with Germans seeking their destruction during the Second World War?"

Giving the lie to the Arab MKs' racism charge, the law does not deny the ability to start and grow a family for those whose true desire is to do so. Rather, it bans "Palestinian" husbands under the age of 35 (25 for wives) from seeking Israeli citizenship.

For those who cannot live with these restrictions, Cheshin offered an alternative:

"No one is preventing them from building a family but they should live in Jenin instead of in [the Israeli Arab city of] Umm al-Fahm."

Touching on the true motivation behind the law, Cheshin continued:

"The romance is touching but we are talking about life and death and the right to life takes priority."

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