JERUSALEM — An internal Israel report found that naturalized Arab citizens
account for a significant percentage of suicide bombings in the country.
The Israel Security Agency has concluded that one in every seven suicide
bombers was a Palestinian or Arab who acquired Israeli citizenship through
marriage. Officials said the citizenship was obtained through a family
reunification program.
"The statistics undermine a major premise that the family reunification
program helps reduce hostility," an official said. "We now see that the
terrorists use those in the program to conduct major suicide attacks."
Officials said Palestinian women who acquired Israeli citizenship have
been recruited by insurgency groups, including Fatah, Hamas and Islamic
Jihad, Middle East Newsline reported. Yochanan Gansin, a Justice Ministry official, said women have become
increasingly involved in strikes against Israel.
In all, 38 of the 272 suicide bombings in Israel, or 14 percent, were
conducted by naturalized Israeli Arab citizens. The report, submitted to the
Knesset Internal Affairs Committee on Jan. 8, said that in all the cases,
the citizens were Palestinians allowed to live in Israel as either spouses
or children of Israeli Arab nationals.
The ISA has opposed family reunification of Palestinian residents from
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The government has proposed extending a law
that suspends the program, the fourth extension requested in less than two
years.
The law was scheduled to expire on Jan. 16. Since 2005, Palestinians
spouses of Israeli Arabs — with the Palestinian partner being at least 35
years old and women at least 25 — have been allowed to apply for
citizenship.
Officials said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians already live
illegally in Israel. They said many of the Palestinians live in such cities
as Nazareth, Tel Aviv and Arab towns in the Triangle region.
