“This is about control, rather than protecting Israel”
HaMoked, an Israeli human rights group that led a Supreme Court appeal against the new rules, said they would deprive “thousands of Palestinian families of the right to live together without interruption and lead a normal family life.” Right to Enter, another campaign group, described the rules as “an already entrenched system of discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank”. He also claimed that the rules were really about imposing “control and isolation” rather than security measures to protect Israel from terrorism. “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 territory’s two-tiered legal structure treats Jewish Israelis as citizens living under political rule, while Palestinians are treated as combatants under military rule,” added a spokesperson for Right to Enter. As the rules treat Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank differently, Palestinian officials have compared the system to apartheid, a charge Israel denies. The European Commission, which runs the Erasmus Plus exchange program, also reprimanded Israel for the new rules for students and teachers. “The Commission considers any action leading to the restriction of the flow of foreign students and staff, including European ones, to Palestinian universities as detrimental to the achievement of the Erasmus+ objective and generally negative for the internationalization of Palestinian universities,” said Mariya Gabriel, the education of the EU. commissioner. He added that the EU was raising “concerns” about the rules in bilateral talks with Israel. The Telegraph approached Cogat for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
