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Originally published on July 6, 2021 5:53 pm
JERUSALEM In a blow to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Israel s parliament failed to renew a controversial law that prevents Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from getting residency in Israel after they marry Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.
The Tuesday vote was 59-59. The law required a simple majority to pass in what s usually a routine annual renewal. A new effort to reinstate the law could still come soon.
Bennett, who took office less than a month ago, was undermined by several members of his governing coalition, including those of the United Arab List party and a rebel member of his own Yamina party, who all voted against extending the law.
Israel PM suffers defeat over Arab family unification ban
By AFP - Jul 07,2021 - Last updated at Jul 07,2021
Arab Israelis walk during a demonstration ahead of the vote on the controversial Citizenship and Entry law, outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem, on Monday (AFP photo)
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused his opponents on Tuesday of harming national security as his coalition failed to extend a ban on citizenship for Palestinian spouses from the West Bank and Gaza.
The ban first enacted in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, has been justified by supporters on security grounds but critics derided it as discriminatory towards Israel’s Arab minority.
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Jul. 7, 2021 2:10 AM
Sometimes the work of leftists is done by rightists. Last night at midnight, the amendment to the Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law expired, after the coalition failed Monday night in its effort to obtain a majority for extending it. That the vote was declared a confidence motion made no difference.
Fifty-nine coalition members voted in favor – including all the Meretz lawmakers, who reversed their intent to oppose it, as well as United Arab List chairman Mansour Abbas and party colleague Walid Taha. But two UAL lawmakers abstained and Amichai Chikli, a Yamina lawmaker who is not a member of the coalition, voted with the opposition against it. This created a tie vote, which meant the bill did not pass. Thus, it was the right-wing opposition that brought about the change promised by the coalition.
The DePaulia
Israeli Arab women hold a sign during a protest ahead of a vote by Israel’s parliament on renewing a law that bars Arab citizens of Israel from extending citizenship or even residency to spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza, outside the parliament building in Jerusalem, Monday, July 5, 2021. Israel’s new government faces an early challenge in deciding whether to renew the temporary law first enacted in 2003. Critics say it’s a racist measure aimed at limiting the growth of the Arab minority, while supporters say it’s needed for security reasons and to preserve Israel’s Jewish character. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)