FOR BACKGROUND SEE:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE150632004
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Cabinet okays extension to controversial Citizenship Law
By Gideon Alon
Haaretz
18 July 2004
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/452850.html
The cabinet voted Sunday to extend by six months a law barring
Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining their spouse's
citizenship.
The controversial law, condemned by Amnesty International as
racist, was originally intended to be extended by a year, but the
extension period was cut by half in line with a proposal Thursday
by Attorney Menachem Mazuz.
The cabinet also agreed to establish a ministerial committee
headed by Interior Minister Avraham Poraz, which will produce a
revised version the law.
The new law will make facilitate the reunification of
Israel-Palestinian families deemed to be a low security risk.
Mazuz, who attended a consultation with Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon, Poraz and Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, suggested change in
the extension period of the law, which was enacted in July 2003
for one year.
Mazuz suggested three reservations for the law, which evoked
international denunciations and was branded discriminatory and
racist. It is now pending a High Court of Justice ruling.
Mazuz suggested a married Palestinian couple over 35 be permitted
to be naturalized; Palestinian women married to Israelis would be
naturalized if the security authorities confirm the candidate's
relatives are not involved in terror; and Palestinian families
with children who have been living in Israel for several years
but have not settled their citizenship status, will be treated
less rigidly.
Mazuz suggested that at the end of the six-month extension period
a new, time-limited Citizenship Law, would be enacted.
The temporary provision for the Citizenship Law was enacted at
the recommendation of the Shin Bet, which said the Israeli sons
of naturalized Palestinians were involved in terrorist activity.
The Shin Bet has not changed its position and says the threat is
still in effect, and Sharon has adopted its position.
Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel wrote
to the ministers that the law was "extremely unconstitutional,
racist and discriminatory, as it deprives basic rights on
nationalistic grounds."