Israel’s parliament is set to vote on Monday on whether to renew a temporary law first enacted in 2003 that bars Palestinian citizens of Israel from extending citizenship or even residency to spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Critics, including many left-wing and Palestinian Israeli legislators, say it is a racist measure aimed at restricting the growth of Israel’s Palestinian minority, while supporters say it is needed for security purposes and to preserve Israel’s Jewish character.
![Ofer Cassif, centre left, and Ayman Odeh, centre right, members of the Israeli Knesset for the Joint List, attend a protest against the Israeli citizenship law outside the Knesset [Menahem Kahana/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/000_9DG6CK.jpeg?resize=770%2C513)
Ofer Cassif, centre left, and Ayman Odeh, centre right, members of the Israeli Knesset for the Joint List, attend a protest against the Israeli citizenship law outside the Knesset [Menahem Kahana/AFP]
