The renewal of a law that bans Family Unification of Arab citizens of Israel with their Palestinian spouses and partners is threatening the existence of the new coalition. The law was first drafted in 2003 as a short term executive order to try and address the series of suicide attacks by Palestinians in Israel. It was meant to prevent Palestinians from using their Israeli residence and civilian status to take part in terrorist attacks against Israelis. Since 2003 this law has been renewed annually. It was challenged twice in the High Court of Justice for adversely impacting equality as it only targeted Arab citizens of Israel, but the ruling in both cases rejected the petition. The law expires annually unless the government renews it. It is due for renewal soon. The right-wing partners in the government are pushing for all the members of the coalition to support the law, while left-wing and Arab parties favor equality over the demographic element that is implied in the law, which was introduced as a means to fight terrorism. In the last few years the terrorist element is no longer an issue, and this law looks more like a law that is meant to prevent naturalization of Muslims in Israel thereby possibly impacting the demographic balance.
The New Government has started its first working week, and the first major decision it took was to establish a national committee of inquiry to investigate the disaster during the pilgrimage to Mt. Meron over the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba’Omer on April 30th this year. Forty five people died while trying to leave a venue on the mountain as they were caught in a path too narrow for the crowd and were buried one under the other.
All the new ministers took their places in their offices, started to familiarize themselves with their new functions and to work. The atmosphere has changed.
Meanwhile ex-PM Netanyahu agreed with new PM Bennet that he and his family will leave the PM residence on Balfour St no later than July 10th. Israel has no clear protocol that details the exact procedure for the handover of the official residence.
Israel follows closely the election for the new President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, and the media covered the process in detail. Israel sees itself as one of Iran’s main rivals, especially in the Middle East, and it wants to do everything in its’ power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. A part of the tension is focused around the Iran deal, and the efforts that President Biden is willing to put to re-draft the deal which former President Trump unilaterally cancelled when he came into office. Israeli officials expressed loud objections to the deal, mainly from former PM Netanyahu. It is not yet clear what will be the policy of the new government, but the Israeli Chief of Staff visited in Washington DC this week for official meetings, mainly concerning the new deal with Iran.
4. Is COVID-19 Back? Shortly after Israelis celebrated lifting the order to wear masks in closed public spaces, they may have to put them on again. With the rise in new cases, and cities turning to red status again for the first time in weeks, the Corona Czar announced that wearing face masks in closed public spaces will be mandatory as of today, Friday, at 12 noon. With rising concerns for new variants, PM Bennet called for Israelis to avoid traveling abroad this summer in order to control the entry of variants that may cause further rises in infection and morbidity. Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced the extension of operations for the military’s coronavirus task force by at least a month. The task force was scheduled to hand over most of its responsibilities, including infection tracing, to civilian authorities by July. In recent weeks, the public health funds started administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children and adolescents 12- 15 years old. Yet, with new shipments due only later in the year, health officials voiced their concern that the inoculation drive may slow down.
5. Tel Aviv’s Pride Parade, the peak event of the pride month events, is happening today, after it was cancelled last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parade, Israel’s first, largest and most colorful one, drew tens of thousands of participants from across the country. It began with the traditional carnivalesque march through the city streets, and will conclude with a beach party and live music performances. 1,500 policemen are securing the event, and 1,000 more volunteer stewards ushering it. The police detained a man in this 30’s, suspected of planning to attack parade participants, as well as a couple who published hate speech posts against the parade.
For further reading:
Family re-unification law: Here, here, here
New Government: Here
Pride parade: