Israel lawmaker invokes Nation-State Law to prevent Palestinian family unification

 Pelestinian children in Gaza

03 June 2020; MEMO: Chairman of the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Zvi Hauser, on Monday invoked the controversial 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law to prevent Palestinians from moving to Israel to be united with their families, Haaretz newspaper reported.

The Israeli Knesset voted by a majority of 41 in favour to 13 against extending the application of “the Citizenship and Entry” into Israel Law by a year which prohibits Palestinians from moving to Israel to be with their relatives.

According to Haaretz, over the past few years, family unification has been banned for Palestinians under “security pretexts”, however this is the first time the controversial law, which designates Israel as the nation-state for only Jews, is invoked for that purpose.

Israel has repeatedly hindered Palestinians from being united with their families in Jerusalem and within Israel in an effort to reduce the Arab population and force families to move out and into the occupied West Bank.