Just before leaving for spring recess on March 10, the Knesset approved Israel's controversial citizenship law with 45 for and 15 against. After almost nine months of debate, the new legislation effectively denies West Bank and Gaza Palestinians married to Israeli citizens from gaining citizenship or residency status.

After the vote, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said in a statement, “This is a Zionist law for our national security that should not have been abandoned for narrow politics.” She later celebrated with a victory tweet: “A Jewish and democratic state 1; a state for all its citizens 0.”

The law was originally adopted in 2003 as a temporary measure that was extended annually. Last July, the Bennett government brought it up for adoption as a regular law, only to see the bill defeated. In an effort to present unity within the coalition, most Meretz and Ra’am legislators did not vote against the bill, Still, the opposition succeeded in blocking it. While right-wing opposition parties led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the concept of the law, they were intent on embarrassing the coalition.

This time around, the coalition operated differently. Shaked worked together with Knesset member Simcha Rotman of the opposition Religious Zionist party to win support from Jewish members of the opposition. While Meretz and Ra’am opposed the bill this time, it passed.