Ministry of Interior acted in bad faith due to false administrative considerations; that is why it was given a NIS10,000 fine

Plaintiffs

1. Hala Haweis
2. Ala Abu Sarhan

The Population Registry ignores consular divorce

About five months ago, Israel recognized divorces executed in foreign embassies in Israel for the first time. In an unprecedented ruling by the family courts, the Ministry of Interior recognized a consular divorce executed at the Russian embassy about four years ago.

High Court demands that the State Attorney’s Office substantiate its claim of connection between family unification and terrorism

In a hearing held in the High Court of Justice on 8 November regarding the petition filed by Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel opposing the recent amendment to the Nationality Law

21,000 applications; barely 5,000 approved

In mid-2002, the cabinet decided to freeze family reunification between Israelis and Palestinians. A year later, that decision was secured in the Knesset when a temporary suspension order was passed.

The state does not want to pay, but will it be forced to?

Though it may sound strange, Israel is not currently engaged in combat in the territories, and it has not been at any time since the year 2000, or, in fact, since the Yom Kippur War either

Law of Return only applies to those whose fathers were Jewish

A Ukrainian woman requested legal immigrant status under the Law of Return in view of the fact that she is registered in her native country as a daughter of a Jew, but her request was denied

Petition contesting lack of consideration of West Bank resident’s request for family reunification with his wife

Hamoked (Center for the Defense of the Individual) filed a petition with the High Court of Justice protesting the five-year refusal of the IDF commander in the West Bank to consider a West Bank resident’s application for family reunification with his Palestinian wife, who has Jordanian citizenship and has lived in the occupied territories legally for more than ten years

Changes to the citizenship law are only superficial

The amendments to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law approved today by the Knesset Interior Committee—and expected to be approved tomorrow by the Knesset—are merely superficial and do not rectify the fundamental shortcomings of the law, according to Sharon Avraham-Weiss, an attorney with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), who submitted a petition against the law two years ago

Family reunification limited for spouses of Israeli Arabs

From now on, Palestinian men over the age of 35 and Palestinian women over the age of 25 will be able to apply for Israel citizenship as part of family reunification under the amendment to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law passed yesterday by the Knesset in the first and second readings

Knesset restricts naturalization of Palestinians; MKs turn to the High Court

Yesterday, the Knesset extended for an additional three months the temporary law that freezes applications for residency and citizenship submitted by Palestinians married to Israeli Arabs

Who Israelis are allowed to love

Israel's immigration policy will be decided, so it appears, by a panel of jurists appointed by Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz with the view to determining transparent regulations that will put an end to the maltreatment faced by any non-Jew wishing to live in Israel

The mother of five children deported for “security reasons”

The ease in restrictions approved by the government in the citizenship law should have applied to Rabab Abu Hasira, but it has been decided to separate her from her husband and children

On racism and security

With the utmost calm, the Shin Bet is taking a measure to codify its control over ordinary citizens. In a meeting of the Knesset Interior Committee

The Interior Ministry refused to explain the reasons behind the deportation

The Ministry of Interior did not trouble itself to explain to the Abu Huseira family the why Rabab, the head of the household, poses such a security threat to the state that she must be deported from the country

Citizenship law: “The children are asking, where's my father”

“I haven't seen my husband in more than two years, and I don't know when I'll see him again. This law is racist, and has not only destroyed my life and the life of my children, but the lives of many other families

Either country or family

Supporters of the Law of Citizenship and Entry Into Israel are scattering smoke screens. What have we done, after all? All we're doing is putting some order into immigration

From discrimination to the denial of basic freedoms

The amendment to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law—which was approved this week in the cabinet—creates three separate ethnic tracks for citizenship in Israel: a track for Jews, a track for Arabs and a track for “foreigners.”

Despite facilitations, spouses from the territories will not obtain citizenship

The amendment made to the temporary family unification law which the government approved this week does not allow Palestinians married to Israeli citizens to obtain citizenship or permanent residence

Confidential documents to withdraw citizenship

In 1991, the Interior Ministry canceled the citizenship of Mimi Ashto and her two children. Since then, she, her children and her husband have been in the country without status, without permission to work and without any help from the state

Citizenship law approved

Today, the ministerial legislative committee approved a new citizenship law. The law reduces restrictions and expands the authority of the interior minister and the judge advocate general in Judea, Samaria , and Gaza to grant residency permits in Israel to Palestinians married to Israeli citizens.

The legacy of Pharaoh

It was announced this week that the government plans to stiffen the rules for granting citizenship to non-Jews, through amendments to the law that make it difficult to grant legal status to Palestinians and other foreigners married to Israeli citizens.

Interior Ministry reconsiders decision to expel mother who supports her disabled son and his wife

The Interior Ministry has temporarily retracted its decision to expel 64-year-old Ella Trantz, from the Ukraine , who looks after her disabled son and his wife

Petition: Interior Ministry files false report to deprive foreign citizen of residency status

In a petition recently heard by the Tel Aviv District Court, it was found that the Interior Ministry had provided false information to the court to prevent a foreigner from obtaining residency in Israel .

Following the extension of the citizenship law, Adalah asks the High Court of Justice to issue a ruling without further delay

On February 21, 2005, Adalah submitted a motion to the High Court of Justice demanding that it rule on petitions currently pending before it challenging the constitutionality of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order, 2003).

Citizens of Arab countries have the right to legal status

Last weekend, in response to a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), the prosecution informed the High Court of Justice that applications for legal status in Israel from citizens of Arab countries married to Israelis are not rejected out of hand, but that every request of this kind receives serious consideration.

Whole-hearted citizenship

The proposal to grant permanent resident status to the children of foreign workers, which Interior Minster Ophir Pines-Paz will bring to the Ministerial Committee on Population Registration

The Daqqa family does not care about the right of return; “there is no politics in love”

Despite the still harsh restrictions imposed on family reunification, the decision made by the government yesterday returned hope to a few families torn apart after applications for citizenship were frozen three years ago.

Head of the National Security Council: Let's impose citizenship restrictions for Palestinians married to Israelis

The National Security Council head is proposing restrictions on granting citizenship to foreign residents on the basis of marriage to Israel Arabs—similar to the harsh immigration laws in Denmark and the Netherlands.

The government to prevent Arabs from marrying as they like to preserve “a Jewish majority”

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the recommendations of the National Security Council yesterday on the naturalization of Palestinians married to Israeli citizens.

The state has the right to preserve its Jewish nature

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a meeting held yesterday in his office to discuss a new law to regulate naturalization in Israel, “The state of Israel has the right to preserve its Jewish nature, even if this involves drafting a policy of immigration.”

Revoking citizenship: Without trial or right to appeal

The Interior Ministry annually revokes the Israeli citizenship of dozens of immigrants—without a court ruling, nearly always without legal representation, without proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the immigrant has defrauded the state and without any right to appeal.

Invisible children

Marina , 9, is only one year older than her 8-year-old sister, Sasha. Both girls have blonde hair, live in the same house, sleep in the same bed, and go to the same school

Adalah to the High Court of Justice: Enough foot-dragging over the ruling in the Citizenship Law

The petitioners in the Citizenship Law amendment case are demanding that the High Court of Justice stop delaying and issue its ruling in the petitions challenging the law, following the cabinet and Knesset decisions to extend the amendment by another four months.

The abolition of the citizenship law

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has asked the High Court of Justice to issue a ruling on a petition submitted against the Law for Citizenship and Entering Israel (temporary order)

A security order and a racist law

In the summer of 2003 the Knesset passed a disgraceful amendment to the Nationality Law, preventing any integration or marriage between Israeli Arabs and other Arabs in the region

Shin-Bet warns: Reopening the issue of reuniting families creates a security risk

The General Security Service (Shin-Bet) has warned against any attempts to reopen the issue of reuniting the families of Palestinians married—or otherwise related—to Israelis.

Proposal to amend and extend the validity of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law

The Legal Advisor of the Ministry of Interior is currently distributing a statutory memorandum [proposed draft bill] to extend the validity of the Nationality and Entry into Israel Law, which will establish even more stringent provisions, all in the guise of an amendment and a broadening of its restrictions

Married a foreigner? Then the Housing Ministry wants its rent subsidy back

Ghassem al-Abuda arrived in Israel 10 years ago after fleeing Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq . At the time another 29 Iraqi citizens came with him, and all of them were recognized as refugees by the UN High Commission for Refugees.

High Court of Justice: No need to decide on constitutionality of Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law

Today, December 16, 2004, the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a temporary ruling on a petition submitted by Adalah in August 2003, which seeks the abolition of an amendment to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law/2003.

The state: The scope of the Citizenship Law to be expanded

The High Court of Justice, presided over by a 13-justice panel, criticized the Citizenship Law in a ruling issued today on a petition submitted by the Adalah organization d eman ding the revocation of the law.

Bucking High Court recommendation, the government will maintain citizenship restrictions on Palestinians

A brief on changes to the temporary amendment to the Citizenship and Entry to Israeli Law, soon to be published by the Interior Minister, make it clear that the government intends to maintain the restrictions imposed on Palestinians seeking legal status in Israel in the framework of family reunification for another year, contrary to the recommendation of the High Court of Justice

Dozens of couples affected by the Ministry of Interior's policies

Yesterday, Nicole Maor and Reut Michaeli, attorneys for the Center for Jewish Pluralism, commented, “There are dozens of cases of relationships between an Israeli and a foreigner in which they live together as man and wife but are unable to marry for various reasons

Non-Jews seeking Israeli citizenship are required to prove that they have no mental illness. They must submit an affidavit to this effect in addition to other affidavits declaring they are not drug addicts

The bill that received preliminary approval yesterday (July 21) would strip the Minister of Interior of his current authority to grant legal status to illegal residents in Israel under the Entry to Israel Law

Two votes in the Knesset concerning the civil status of foreigners have created the impression that Israel is being inundated by a wave of “racism.” In one of the votes, the ad hoc regulation that denies a permanent residence permit and Israeli citizenship for Palestinian residents of the territories was extended for six months

Israel , described as “the only democracy in the Middle East ” and “a democratic Jewish state,” is, for those who subscribe to such slogans

Abir is an Israeli citizen and Ammar is a resident of the territories. In 2002, they married. Since then, they have lived in Umm al-Fahm with their young daughter