An American decides to study at a university in the West Bank. She applies directly to the university and gets accepted. Of course, she will need a visa from the Israeli authorities, which control all entry into the West Bank. But which authorities exactly? That depends. If she is planning to study at Ariel University, located in the Israeli settlement of Ariel, she will request a visa from the Israeli Ministry of Interior. This is a straightforward process, and she can receive renewable multi-entry visas for as long as her studies continue.

If the American student has decided to study at a Palestinian university, however, she will need to request a visa from the Israeli military. This is a much more invasive and restrictive process. A student visa cannot be extended beyond twenty-seven months. The application requires her to provide the cell phones and email address of any family members she has in the West Bank and detail any property she owns there or inheritance claims. She must submit to a consular interview. None of this guarantees her a visa; in fact, the Israeli military will only allow 150 foreign students to study at Palestinian universities.

All of this is laid out in the new Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Procedure for entry and residence of foreigners in the Judea and Samaria area (the biblical name that the Israeli government uses to refer to the West Bank). The procedure, set to come into force next month, does not only concern students. It sets similarly invasive and extraneous criteria on anyone seeking to work, teach, or volunteer in a Palestinian institution or visit the West Bank for any reason whatsoever, including on people who are married to Palestinians.