Israel has come out with a new rule that asks foreigners to inform the Israeli defence ministry if they fall in love with a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank.
The new rules, which are due to come in to force from Monday, say that once they marry, they will have to leave the region after 27 months for a cooling-off period of one-and-a-half years, BBC reported.
It also asks foreigners to inform the Israeli authorities within 30 days of starting a relationship with a Palestinian ID holder.
The regulations, which are being seen as an attempt to tighten rules on foreigners living in or looking to visit the West Bank, have been slammed by Palestinians and Israeli NGOs, who have accused the Israeli government of “taking restrictions to a new level”.
Apart from that, new restrictions have been imposed on Palestinian universities, limiting a quota for 150 student visas and 100 foreign lecturers, while there are no such limits in the Israeli ones.
“This is about demographic engineering of Palestinian society and isolating Palestinian society from the outside world,” Jessica Montell, executive director of the Israeli non-governmental organisation HaMoked, which has petitioned the Israeli High Court against the regulations, told BBC.
“They make it much more difficult for people to come and work in Palestinian institutions, volunteer, invest, teach and study,” she added.
These new rules are part of the 97-page order brought by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), which is part of the Israel defence ministry.
Cogat is responsible for the administration of the Palestinian territory.
The order is titled ‘Procedure for entry and residence of foreigners in the Judea and Samaria area’— the biblical name Israel uses for the West Bank.
The order was first published in February, but its introduction has been delayed.
(With inputs from agencies)
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