HCJ 10650/03 Abu Gwella et. al v

etween the parent and the child automatically creates the rights and duties (except in
cases where custody is removed by law).
The question of whether a security or criminal basis for rejection of the request also
does not arise as regards children, and such a check is not part of the standard
procedures for registering children.
The separate tracks for family unification and registration of children are reflected in
the many documents attached to this petition. We also refer to the Respondents’
criteria for approving a family unification request that were published at the time.
These criteria include the granting of residency to a child who lives with a person who
was granted residency (of any kind). The minor children of an Israeli resident are not
included in the criteria for approval of a request for family unification – for the simple
reason that granting them the status has always been conceived as another, separate
procedure.
The criteria are attached hereto as Appendix P/21 above.
Government Decision 1813
71. On 29 March 2003, immediately following the suicide bombing at the Matza
Restaurant, the Ministry of the Interior froze the handling of requests for family
unification. According to the Minister, his decision resulted from the fact that Tubasi,
who blew himself up in the Matza Restaurant, had obtained a status in Israel through
family unification. Examination of the facts indicates that this was not the case: Tubasi
was a citizen from birth, having been born to an Israeli national. Therefore, the freeze
declared by the Respondent, which was embodied in the government’s decision and
later in statute, does not ostensibly prevent the repetition of a similar incident, an
objective that became the banner cause in the Respondents’ propaganda campaign.
72. However, in a “private” public relations action that Respondents 1 and 2 took with
government ministers just before they voted on the government’s decision, the said
Respondents offered completely different arguments on the need for the government’s
decision. The reason set forth in the computerized presentation that Respondents’ 2
and 3 diligently presented was the demographic and economic cost that the Jewish
people would sustain if the Arab population multiplied.
73. In graphics filled with threatening arrows, the Population Administration proves how
“aliens of Arab nationality” are multiplying and gaining strength, giving birth to many
children (10-12 per couple), “their growth potential” is enormous, their offspring
marry and receive a lawful status in Israel, and it continues on and on. The generation
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