New law bans terrorists and their families from gaining legal status in Israel

The “family reunification” route to legal status in Israel has been closed, said the law’s author, MK Amit Halevy.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A bill banning terrorists and their families from becoming permanent Israeli residents by joining family members already legally in Israel passed into law in the Knesset on Wednesday.

The vote in the mostly empty plenum passed 29-1, with opposition members of the Blue and White and Yisrael Beiteinu parties joining coalition MKs in supporting the measure.

The lone nay vote came from Ahmed Tibi (Hadash-Ta’al).

MK Amit Halevi, the Likud backbencher who authored the law, immediately cheered the outcome.

“This law will at least partially block the terrorist pipeline enabled by the family reunification process,” he said, calling it “long overdue.”

“For years, thousands of Palestinians entered under the auspices of the High Court’s ruling [allowing reunification] and became part of the main terrorist infrastructure,” which targeted Israeli Arabs as well, he explained.

“We hope this law will deter future attacks and prevent the next disaster,” the hawkish MK added.

Perhaps one of the most significant clauses of the law is that it is retroactive, meaning that the government can now revoke the legal status of permanent residents suspected of terror activity and force them to leave.

It also stipulates that any Palestinian caught jumping the border from Judea and Samaria will not receive a residency permit or even permission to stay temporarily in the country for 10 years.

Such offenders will also be punished more harshly, with the maximum penalty rising from one to two years in prison.

MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which advanced the bill, called it a “vital reform.”

“The days of family reunification for terrorists are over. No more gifts for the families of terrorists. Illegal residents will be deported—plain and simple,” he said.

Israel already has on the books a law that revokes terrorists’ citizenship or residency permits, especially if they receive financial support from the Palestinian Authority.

It also allows the interior minister to deport first-degree family members who knew or should have known about a relative’s upcoming attack and did not try to prevent it by warning the authorities.

Relatives who expressed support for the terrorist act or incited it can also be expelled for a period of seven to 10 years if they are Israeli citizens and 10-20 years if they are permanent residents.