Information on official or unofficial identification of the ethnic origin of the holder of an Israeli passport [ISR10373]

For published information on the above-mentioned subject please find the attached documents.

According to a representative of the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa, the Israeli passport does not mention the ethnic origin of its holder, but the Israeli identity card does (24 February 1992). A representative of the Palestine Human Rights Information Centre in Jerusalem reported that there is no official (printed) mention on the Israeli passport of the ethnic origin of the person holding such a passport (24 Feb. 1992). The Israeli identity card provides information on the ethnic origin of the holder, i.e., an ethnic group such as Arab, Jew or Druze (Ibid.). This source added that there is no need to have the information on the passport in order to know the ethnic origin of the passport holder since the form one has to fill out to obtain a passport contains that information (Ibid.). Therefore, any Israeli official can have access to that information (Ibid.).

The above information was corroborated by a representative of Middle East Watch, by a specialist on Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem and by a legal adviser for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (24 Feb. 1992). These sources were unable to provide information on whether the Israeli Foreign Ministry has authorized its embassies abroad to alter passports (Ibid.).

For further information please find the attached documents.

Bibliography


Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Jerusalem. 24 February 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

Embassy of Israel, Ottawa. 24 February 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

Middle East Watch, New York. 24 February 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

Palestine Human Rights Information Centre, Jerusalem. 24 February 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.

Specialist of Palestinian-Israeli Affairs, Jerusalem. 24 February 1992. Telephone Interview.

Attachments

Juriste-Classeur Nationalité. 1990. edited by Closset, Charles and Michel Verwilghen. Paris: édition Techniques.

Middle East International. 12 July 1991. Shahak, Israel. "The Israeli Citizens are Not Equal."

Passport Handbook. 1987. Utrecht: Kluwerpers.