The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the State of Israel may revoke the citizenship of terrorism convicts even if they have no other citizenship.
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According to the court ruling, "there was no constitutional fault in an arrangement that would facilitate the revocation of citizenship of a person who committed acts that constitute a breach of trust against the State of Israel," as quoted by Ynet.
Those acts include terrorism, treason and serious espionage, as well as "acquisition of citizenship for permanent residency in a hostile nation or hostile territory."
The revocation is legal even if a convict doesn't have any other citizenship. However, in that case, the Interior Minister would be obligated to issue a residency permit.
The ruling came in response to the Interior Ministry filing the first two requests to strip of citizenship two terrorists sentenced for terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. Muhammad Mafaraja was convicted over an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv in 2012 that left 24 people wounded. Alaa Ziud was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a stabbing attack at the Gan Shmuel Junction in 2015, which wounded four Israelis.
Some Israeli politicians already welcomed the court's decision. Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman called it "a significant step in eradicating terrorism in the State of Israel." He added that "the situation in which terrorists responsible for brutal acts of terrorism hold Israeli citizenship is untenable" and praised the court for stopping "this absurdity."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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