Passengers sit in a waiting room on the Jordanian side of the King Hussein Bridge (also known as Allenby Bridge) crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on July 19, 2022. - The border crossing, which serves as a border crossing between Israel and Jordan mainly for the Palestinians and foreign tourists, has witnessed an issue with crowding with passengers stuck on the Jordanian side. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP)

New Israeli rules will require foreign passport holders to declare romantic relations with Palestinians

TEL AVIV – Foreign passport holders in the West Bank will be required to report their romantic relationships with Palestinians to Israeli authorities, according to controversial new rules set to take effect on Monday.

Palestinian legal experts and human rights advocates say the move, which will also restrict Palestinians from visiting family members and severely limit Palestinian academic exchange with foreign universities, is an escalation of an already entrenched system of discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank, which Israel seized in 1967.

The 97-page Israeli order detailing the new restrictions requires foreign passport holders, including, in some cases, dual Palestinian-American citizens, in a romantic relationship with a Palestinian resident in the West Bank, to “report” in writing to the Israeli security authorities ( to a private email address) within 30 days of starting the relationship.”

“The ‘relationship commencement date’ is considered to be the day of the engagement ceremony, or the day of the wedding, or the day of the commencement of cohabitation – whichever occurs first,” He said.

The new restrictions – which also require applicants to declare whether they own or inherit land in the West Bank – will not apply to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The area’s two-tier legal structure treats Israeli Jews as citizens living under civilian rule while Palestinians are treated as combatants under military rule, subject to nighttime military raids, and the confinement and prohibition of visiting their ancestral lands or accessing certain roads.

Palestinian rights advocates have condemned the updated and stricter measures on social media as yet another example of Israel stripping the rights of Palestinians living under its 55-year occupation.

Read the article by Eadwulf Lewine on MediaBizNet.