The drama reached a climax in the Knesset this week, with the defeat of the government’s attempt to extend an amendment to the law governing citizenship and entry into Israel. The vote failed to obtain a majority when Knesset member Amichai Chikli of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s own Yamina party voted against it and two members of the Arab Raam, Mazen Ghnaim and Said al-Harumi, abstained. In the final tally, 59 members voted for the law, but the same number voted against it, so it did not pass. It was the coalition’s first defeat.
The amendment, traditionally renewed on a yearly basis, prevents entry into Israel and resident status for Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who are married to Israelis in the name of family reunification. Many Israelis agree that the reasoning behind this legislation is political and with demographic aims, even if it is framed as a security matter. The legislation is designed to prevent thousands of Palestinians from seeking residency in Israel, even though a few thousand Arab individuals at most would surely not undermine the Jewish majority.
