Middle East Monitor / January 9, 2023
Head of the coalition government and Knesset Committee Chairman Ofir Katz of the Likud Party said today that he intends to advance the enactment of a bill to revoke the citizenship or residency of Palestinian prisoners on the allegation of “terrorist” activity. He added that this legislation will be implemented within two weeks.
The bill provides for the revocation of citizenship in Israel and residency in occupied Jerusalem from “a terrorist activist who obtains compensation for carrying out a terrorist act,” according to Israel’s Channel 12.
According to the draft law, “a citizen or resident who is proven to have received money from the PA to carry out a terrorist act, will be considered as someone who, on his own initiative, waived his citizenship or residency, and the Minister of Interior will revoke their status.”
The bill added that cancelling the status of a citizen in Israel means that upon his release from prison, he will be deported to the PA territories.
This comes after Palestinian citizen of Israel Karim Younis was released from Israeli jails last week after spending 40 years behind bars. Younis was greeted to large scale celebrations.
Katz said: “The liberation celebrations that we witnessed inside Israeli territory have sparked great anger. It is inconceivable that this contradictory situation continues, in which terrorists carry out terrorist operations, receive a salary from the Palestinian Authority, and then return to live among us.”
“There is a wide consensus among most blocs regarding advancing this law quickly, and I intend to finish this important piece of legislation in two weeks,” he added.
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Ben-Gvir orders probe into celebration of prisoner’s release
Middle East Monitor / January 9, 2023
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has ordered Police Chief Kobi Shabtai to investigate the celebrations held in honour of the release of Palestinian prisoner Karim Younis. Younis was released at the weekend after 40 years behind bars. Ben-Gvir told the police to prevent celebrations that would be seen as supporting “terrorism”.
The former prisoner’s family hosted a party attended by many people, including Palestinian Authority officials. The minister ordered Shabtai to find out why his instructions were not acted upon.
“Such celebrations are incitement and explicit support of terrorism, and it does not make sense for them to happen in our country,” claimed the extremist Ben-Gvir. “Israel has no place for celebrations of terrorism and I will do all within my authority to prevent these celebrations until we legislate for the death penalty for terrorism.”
