Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni came under fire on Monday after it was learned that she personally intervened to help the daughter of a top Palestinian Authority official obtain Israeli citizenship.
Israel’s Channel 10 News reported on Sunday that at the request of chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia (also known as Abu Ala), Livni used her clout to push his daughter’s application through the Interior Ministry.
Thanks to Livni’s involvement, Qureia’s daughter, Mona, received her Israeli citizenship earlier this month.
Mona Qureia is married to an Israeli Arab, and applied for citizenship under old family reunification rules. However, Israel recently changed its policies due to Palestinian misuse of those rules, and no longer automatically provides citizenship to the non-Israeli spouses of Israelis.
Only someone with government connections can today accomplish what Qureia’s daughter did.