3,374 residents of eastern Yerushalayim have received Israeli citizenship over the last decade, the daily Haaretz reports. This represents a sharp increase in the number of Arabs being granted Israeli citizenship.
Citing Interior Ministry figures, the report states that the trend has slowed down in the past two years,
In 2000, only 85 Arabs received citizenship and in 2001-2003, the numbers were 58, 63, and 44 annually respectfully.
Most of the Arab residents of the eastern capital have residency status, which permits them to vote in local elections, the mayoral race, but not national elections like the general election set for 11 Shevat 5773.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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My guess is there are Arabs who if the boundary between Israel and Palestine is settled, don’t want to be living in the Islamic Republic of Palestine. They are probably non-Muslims or secular Muslims. As most of them aren’t ultra-secular (even if they are too secular for the fanatical Muslims), and are going to be less of a problem for us than the hiloni “Jews.”