Netanyahu seeks to strip Palestinian citizens convicted of violent crimes of Israeli nationality

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel asked a court Thursday to revoke the citizenship of two men convicted of terrorism offenses, in what appears to be the first test of a law allowing the deportation of Palestinian citizens convicted of certain violent crimes.

Court documents filed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday argue that the severity of the crimes, along with payments those found guilty allegedly received from a Palestinian Authority fund, justify revoking citizenship and expelling the individuals convicted of violent attacks.

Roughly one in five Israeli citizens is Palestinian. When the law passed, critics said it was one instance in which Israel’s legal system treats Jewish and Palestinian citizens differently. Rights groups argued that basing a deportation law on Palestinian Authority payments effectively limited its application on the basis of race and excluded Jewish Israelis — including settlers convicted of attacks against Palestinians — from the threat of having their citizenship revoked.

Netanyahu has long argued the fund in question rewards violence, including attacks on civilians. Palestinian officials, however, have defended it as a safety net for the broad cross section of society with family members in Israeli detention. They have dismissed Netanyahu’s focus on the relatively small share of beneficiaries involved in such attacks.

Citizenship revocation law faces first test

Netanyahu in a statement this week said proceedings were launched against two men and more such cases were on their way. One of the court filings seen by the Associated Press details the request against Mohamad Hamad, who the state’s request says was convicted of “offenses that constitute an act of terrorism and receiving funds in connection with terrorism.”

It alleges Hamad, a 48-year‑old citizen from East Jerusalem, received payment after he was sentenced in 2002 on charges that included shootings and weapons trafficking. He went on to serve more than two decades in prison before his release.

The 2023 law applies to citizens or permanent residents convicted of “committing an act that constitutes a breach of loyalty to the State of Israel,” including terrorism.

Hassan Jabareen, the general director of Israel’s Adalah legal center, called steps taken to apply it this week “a cynical propaganda move” by Netanyahu. He said revoking citizenship violated the most basic principles of the rule of law, including by acting against individuals who completed prison sentences.

“The Israeli government is attempting to strip individuals of the very foundation through which all rights are protected, their nationality,” he said on Thursday.

If the court moves ahead, it would make Israel one of the few nations — including Bahrain — to revoke citizenship of people born with the status in their country. Countries such as the United Kingdom and France have stripped dual or naturalized citizens of their citizenships over terrorism convictions, but international conventions generally bar states from taking away someone’s nationality if it would leave them stateless.

The Palestinian Authority payments, Israel argues, create a sufficient link to justify revoking citizenship and deporting such citizens to the West Bank or Gaza.

The request does not say to where the citizens would be deported.

Metz and Melzer write for the Associated Press. Melzer reported form Nahariya, Israel.