The High Court shrunk from a principled decision on the Israeli Citizenship Law amendment.
Renewed every 18 months, the amendment bars the foreign spouses of Israel Arabs from the country; if an Israeli Arab loves his inexpensively purchased Iraqi spouse so much, let him move to Iraq with his other three wives.
Ultra-leftists of Jewish origin routinely challenge the law. The government defends the law on shaky security grounds instead of stating clearly that we do not want more Arabs here.
The court left the amendment standing but ordered the government to review its criteria. Most probably, the court will eventually lift restrictions on spouses purchased in Egypt, the West Bank and Jordan, which are technically not enemy states.
Even the United States, the most open society in the world, does not grant foreign spouses residence rights automatically. At a minimum, they must not become a drain on public resources. Israeli Arabs who do not pay taxes won’t be able to meet that standard.
