HCJ 10650/03 Abu Gwella et. al v

protecting her children and providing for them to the best of her ability. The state has
the clear and natural duty not only to prevent such violation, but to take actions
necessary to safeguard a person from impediments to his ability to provide the
necessary protection to his or her children.
108. The Respondents ignore the principle of the best interest of the child, which is a
fundamental principle in exercising administrative and judicial discretion regarding
minors. As long the person is a minor, and as long as his or her parent functions in a
proper manner, the best interest of the child dictates that he be raised in the supportive
family unit. The refusal to register the child as a resident of Israel, when the parent is a
resident of Israel and resides in Israel, forces the child to be separated from his
parents, impedes his development, and interferes in the family unit in a manner that is
not in the child’s best interest. In the alternative, the child will be left with his parent
in Israel, but without a stable and clear status, until such time that the difficulties
inherent in living without a status overcome the family.
109. Lacking a status, Petitioner 1’s children do not, in many ways, exist. As time passes,
and with the frequent changes in the Respondents’ procedures, it is unclear if
registration of the children will be allowed, or how complicated the procedure will be
(even now, significant resources are required, such as great sums of money for the
filing fee and attorney’s fees, which result from the need to provide affidavits, and the
failure to publish the procedures entailed in registering a child).
110. As time passes from the day the child is born to the day of registration, the demands
placed on the parents to register the child become more complex and more expensive.
Many residents are unable to meet the Respondents’ changing demands, a fact that
results in persons, first as children and later as adults, living in Israel without
documentation and without rights. It is unnecessary to expand on the grave
consequences for the child, but it is important to mention that such a situation also
harms the state in that the Population Registry does not reflect the state’s actual
population.
111. In Israeli law, the best interest of the child is a fundamental and firmly established
principle. On the importance of the family unit and the constitutional limitations on
state interference in family matters, see the comments of the Honorable President
Shamgar in Civ. App. 2266/93, Doe v Doe, Piskei Din 49 (1) 221, 235-236:
The right of parents to custody of their children and to raise
them, with all that entails, is a natural and primary,
constitutional right, expressing the natural connection
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