Revoke the New Amendment to the Citizenship Law

Photo: © Georgy Dzyura | Dreamstime.com

At the end of the last Knesset session the Knesset quickly passed an amendment to the Citizenship Law (Section 11a). The amendment approves the sweeping revocation of status for Palestinians whose family members, broadly defined, are involved in security incidents. The amendment stipulates that revocation of status shall apply even if the affected individuals have no connection to the family member. The amendment further broadly states that a Palestinian who stayed in Israel unlawfully, regardless of how long or under what circumstances, will not be able to acquire legal status in Israel for any reason whatsoever, for ten years.  

This amendment affects spouses, parents, children, Palestinian asylum seekers, victims of violence and crime, and other humanitarian cases. It was passed in spite of the fact that it is counter to the legal opinions of the Knesset itself, as well as the government.  

ACRI, HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, and Physicians for Human Rights petitioned the Supreme Court on August 17, 2025 with a request to revoke the amendment to the law. The organizations argued that the amendment will apply to people against whom there is no concrete claim that they are involved in any security issues. These people, who did not participate in, know about, or support any wrongdoing will nonetheless be punished through no fault of their own by not receiving legal status in Israel, or being expelled from the country, and any spouses and children who are Israeli citizens and residents will also be punished. The organizations emphasized that a fundamental principle is that a person bears responsibility for their own actions, and is not punished for deeds committed by others. The petition argues that this amendment constitutes collective punishment, that the reasoning behind the amendment is racism and populism, and that the amendment is unconstitutional. Moreover, it is destined to tear families apart and harm to the rights of people who have done nothing wrong. 

HCJ 41284-08-25 The Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. The Knesset 

Attorneys: Oded Feller (Association for Civil Rights), Daniel Shenhar (HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual), Adi Lustigman (Physicians for Human Rights) 

The petition, July 19, 2025 (Heb)

The petition was written with the assistance of Elza Bugnet and interns Yaser Abu Areesha and Inbar Quiroga. 

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