Israel on Wednesday (local time) approved a law to strip citizenship over “terrorism” offences, reported The Times of Israel.
The Knesset approved a law to strip convicted terrorists with Israeli nationality of their citizenship — provided they receive funding from the Palestinian Authority or an associated organization.
The bill, which passed with 94 votes in favour and 10 against in the Knesset, also paves the way for Israel to expel people from the country or annexed east Jerusalem.
The law, an amendment to Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law, applies to both Israeli citizens and permanent residents incarcerated following a conviction for terror, aiding terror, harming Israeli sovereignty, inciting war, or aiding an enemy during wartime, and enables the interior minister to revoke their status after a hearing, reported The Times of Israel.
The law enables citizenship to be revoked even if the person lacks a second citizenship, provided they have a permanent residence status outside of Israel. Once citizenship is revoked, the person would be denied entry back into Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it on Twitter as “our answer to terrorism”.
Sometimes referred to as “pay for slay,” the Palestinian Authority regularly pays stipends to convicted terrorists, and the law also applies to organizations that pay out on the PA’s behalf, reported The Times of Israel.
Amid an ongoing terror wave and two recent, high-profile and security prisoner releases celebrated by Palestinians, proponents touted the bill as a deterrent to terror. It passed against opposition from Arab lawmakers, who labelled the law’s tailoring to carve out Jewish terrorists as “racist.”
