Israeli Supreme Court approves use of citizenship stripping

Judges and staff of the Israeli Supreme Court on May 4, 2020 (illustrative image).

AFP - ABIR SULTAN

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The Israeli Supreme Court approves the revocation of citizenship for individuals who have committed acts of the first gravity.

A decision hailed by the Israeli right. 

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem,

It is a decision which in general opinion will set a precedent without it being possible at this stage to determine its scope.

The highest legal body now therefore allows the citizenship of any individual guilty of breach of trust in the State of Israel to be revoked.

These are primarily terrorist attacks, but also acts of treason, espionage or even naturalization in an enemy country.

According to the court ruling, Israeli nationals who commit such acts may be stripped of their citizenship even if they have no other citizenship.

But in this case, they will have to receive a residence permit issued by the Ministry of Interior.

Several right-wing lawyers are delighted with this decision and believe that it is a simple deprivation of the right to vote and eligibility as it exists in particular in French law.

For Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, however, this risks placing individuals in a simply unbearable legal situation.

The Supreme Court's decision came in the context of the trial against Mohammed Mafarja and Ala'a Ziwad, two Israeli Arabs who carried out attacks in 2012 and 2015.

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• Israel

• Terrorism

• Justice