ISRAEL, CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5

Family reunification

24. The Committee notes with concern that the 2003 Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), as amended in 2005 and 2007, remains in force and has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. The Committee reiterates its concern that this Law, which suspends the possibility, subject to limited and subjective exceptions, of family reunification, especially in cases of marriages between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has recently been extended for another six months and thus continues to adversely affect the marriages and right to family life of Israeli Arab women citizens and Palestinian women from the Occupied Territories.

25. Recalling its previous recommendation (CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/3, para. 34), the Committee calls on the State party to balance its security interests with the human rights of persons affected by such policies, and to reconsider them with a view to facilitating family reunification of all citizens and permanent residents. To this end, it calls on the State party to bring the 2003 Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) of 31 July 2003 into line with articles 9 and 16 of the Convention.