Sharp jump in approvals and rejections comes as officials seek to expedite approvals process after High Court’s criticism
By TOI
Th East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on September 9, 2019. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)
Israel granted citizenship to 1,200 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem last year, an all-time high, government figures show.
The figure is three times the number in 2018.
The number of citizenship requests denied — also roughly 1,200 — was similarly at an unprecedented high last year.
The sharp jump in approvals and rejections is not due to any change in the rate at which Palestinian are requesting the citizenship, the Haaretz daily reports, but in the Israeli government’s expediting of the approval process after a Supreme Court decision last year criticized the inefficiency in the citizenship request system.
East Jerusalem is claimed by Israel, and was annexed in the wake of the 1967 Six Day War, and again declared Israeli in the 1980 Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel. The Israeli declarations are not recognized by the international community.
Israel has moved slowly, however, in granting citizenship to Arabs living in the annexed areas, while the citizenship requests from the Arab residents have remained at a trickle over the Palestinian worry that accepting citizenship amounted to recognizing Israeli annexation.
Once again, the Supreme Court harming Israel’s security in its eagerness to serve Arab interests. The justices most go.