Ministers expand bill towns to reject ‘culturally unsuitable’ residents

Controversial law already allows communities of up to 400 homes to screen potential residents, amendment would expand that to communities of up to 550 homes • Critics say law essentially allows Jewish towns to reject Arab applicants as “unsuited.”

By Yair Altman, ISRAEL HAYOM

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday voted in favor of a bill that would allow large Jewish communities to reject home seekers who are “socially and culturally unsuitable.”

The bill is an amendment to a law passed in 2011 allowing communities of 400 or fewer homes to have admission committees screen potential home seekers to see whether they meet certain social and cultural criteria. The bill aims to expand the benchmark to communities of up to 550 homes.

The original law drew harsh criticism, as it essentially allowed Jewish towns to reject Arab applicants by declaring them “culturally unsuited” to integrate into the community.

The amendment, sponsored by Habayit Hayehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, states: “Reality shows that there is a need to amend the legislation and update the definition of the community settlement. … This will allow communities to grow and expand while maintaining social and cultural cohesion and without harming the community-based rural lifestyle.”