Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli soldiers, not seen, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. Palestinians have been violently protesting in Hebron since Israel declared last week that it would add the Cave of Patriarchs to its list of national heritage sites.
Jewish settler children, dressed in costumes, walk next to the Tomb of the Patriarchs following the annual parade marking the Jewish holiday of Purim in the divided West Bank town of Hebron, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. The festival of Purim commemorates the rescue of Jews from genocide in ancient Persia.
A Jewish settler stands on a horse with the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the background as he participates in the annual parade marking the Jewish holiday of Purim in the divided West Bank town of Hebron, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. The festival of Purim commemorates the rescue of Jews from genocide in ancient Persia.
A panel of 11 Supreme Court Justices will meet this morning to deliberate an issue of considerable public dispute - the Citizenship Law amendment preventing Palestinians married to Arab Israelis from becoming Israeli residents or citizens.
Four petitions have been filed against the amendment, by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual, Adalah and former Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On.
Its opponents say it is unconstitutional because it violates the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty, and damages the right to raise a family in Israel regardless of national or ethnic criteria.
During deliberations before a panel of seven justices on petitions filed a year ago, state attorney Yochi Gnesin said that the problem lies in Palestinians' overwhelming support for terrorism against Israel.
"We cannot foresee when and at which stage a person will decide to carry out an attack or aid his cousin to bring a bomb into Israel," she said.
Gnesin also said that a person with Israeli residency becomes more attractive to terrorists, and that a year or so after becoming a resident, "links up with terrorists."
As such, she argued that Shin Bet scrutiny of potential residents is not enough to ensure these people are not involved in terrorism.
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch noted then that "the temporary nature [of the amendment] is temporary," criticizing the state's repeated extensions for the "temporary" amendment.
Gnesin excused the extension by citing the security situation and the need to prevent terrorism.
Dan Yakir, the ACRI's legal counselor, said the amendment should be evaluated in terms of its broader implications, due to how it violates couples' rights.
Yakir also noted that in spite the "security difficulties," the defense establishment authorized the entry of some 20,000 Palestinians to work in Israel, showing that when economic interests are concerned, the defense establishment can evaluate the risk posed by Palestinians.
Ahead of the deliberations, four organizations asked to be included among those responding to the petitions: Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, Fence for Life, Im Tirtzu and the New Zionist movement.
The New Zionist movement said that the petitions against the constitutionality of the amendment threaten the country's existence as the Jewish homeland, and that doing away with the law will increase the Arab population by 200,000 "persons hostile to the Zionist enterprise."
Dr. Allan Bower, who was injured along with his son Jonathan in central Jerusalem in a terrorist attack eight years ago, told Haaretz that if the amendment is canceled, terrorism could increase.
"If the amendment is canceled, Palestinian terrorists may use this to harm Israel. The problem in Israel is that responsibility is never taken for negligence that results in increased terrorism against Israelis," he said.
Palestinian Cabinet stakes claim amid shrine furor
The Palestinian Cabinet moved its weekly meeting to Hebron on Monday, a symbolic protest against Israel's addition of a contested shrine in this volatile West Bank city to its list of national heritage sites.
Israel's decision last week drew widespread international criticism and heightened Palestinian suspicions of Israel at a time when the U.S. is trying to restart peace talks.
Israelis and Palestinians have clashed frequently in the past over two West Bank shrines added to the heritage list: the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.
The city's brewing tensions were on sharp display on Monday, when a group of settler youths, some as young as 4 years old, threw rocks and cursed at Palestinians not far from the traditional grave of Abraham, considered the father of both Judaism and Islam.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Israel's move as an "attack on the holy places," and his Islamic militant Hamas rivals in Gaza called for a new uprising. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was about preserving culture, and not connected to politics.
Over the past week, Palestinian stone-throwers have clashed almost daily with Israeli troops in Hebron, a divided city where 500 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves amid 170,000 Palestinians.
The Cabinet session came a day after Israeli police forces dispersed masked Palestinian rioters at Jerusalem's most contentious holy site. And early Monday, gunmen opened fire at an Israeli security vehicle in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, lightly injuring a security guard, police said.
Netanyahu has tried to calm tensions, saying the plan was to protect the holy sites and without infringing on Muslim freedom of worship.
However, Palestinians fear the decision is another sign that Netanyahu wants to hang on to significant parts of the West Bank, a territory they want for their future Palestinian state, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad convened his Cabinet at the Hebron governor's office Monday, instead of its usual venue in the city of Ramallah. The ministers were greeted by a military honor guard.
Fayyad condemned Israel's decision on the holy sites but also appealed for calm.
"We are not going to be drawn into a cycle of violence," Fayyad told The Associated Press. "We are fully determined, and we count on our people understanding fully well that the best response to this ... is to stay focused" on state-building.
The disputed shrine in Hebron is a 2,000-year-old fortress-like structure built where tradition says Abraham and other biblical patriarchs are buried. Muslims call it the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Israel partitioned the shrine, keeping apart Muslims and Jews, after an Israeli settler gunned down 29 Muslim worshippers there in February 1994, before being bludgeoned to death.
Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily said the city's Palestinians are deeply suspicious. "The settlers came here for one reason, they want to claim that this is Jewish heritage, and not only for the mosque, but for the whole city of Hebron," he said.
Netanyahu's move has also drawn international criticism. In Brussels, the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, called the Israeli move "detrimental to attempts to relaunch peace negotiations."
Visiting U.S. Sen. John Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem Monday that he understood the Israeli leader's desire to preserve a historical site. "But the timing and the manner of the announcement needs to be taken into account in the future," Kerry said.
Kerry said he hoped the clashes would prove to be no more than a "hiccup" toward getting U.S.-mediated peace talks back underway — a process that could resume in the coming weeks.
Also Monday, a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip was killed by an Israeli tank shell close to the border with Israel, Palestinian medics said. The Israeli military said the tank fire was aimed at militants preparing to plant a bomb along the border fence.
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