Israel mulls revoking citizenship of Nazareth man who joined IS

Family threatens to turn to Supreme Court if passport of relative, currently hospitalized in Turkey, not returned

By ToI Staff 23 December 2014, 1:54 am

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This file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, shows a convoy of vehicles and fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq's Anbar Province. (photo credit: AP Photo/militant website)

A Nazareth man who left Israel for Syria to join the Islamic State terror group stands to have his passport annulled and his citizenship revoked.

Interior Minister Gilad Erdan indicated Monday that he was waiting for an assessment on the situation by the security establishment but said that this was a man “who was trained to kill people by one of the most cruel terror groups in the world.” Erdan added that he was considering whether to allow him back into the country, Channel 2 reported.

Marwan Kahldi , a 19-year-old Nazareth resident, left Israel some two months ago for Syria, cutting off all contact with his family.

Sometime over the past week, Kahldi’s family said they found out he was hospitalized in Turkey in serious condition, with severe burns to his body. They turned to the Interior Ministry to ask for his passport so he could come home, but were reportedly stonewalled.

The family has threatened to turn to the Supreme Court if Kahldi’s passport is not returned or if the Interior Ministry moves to revoke his citizenship.

The family lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said Monday that Kahldi’s “stay in Turkey risked posing irreversible damage to his health.”

The Shin Bet internal security service and police believe that more than 30 Israeli Arabs have joined the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms IS, ISIS and ISIL, which has taken control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

A bill approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and still making its way through parliament seeks to crack down on Israeli citizens taking up arms with jihadist groups and will carry a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

Earlier this month, Channel 2 reported that the Islamic State group has been trying to recruit Israeli Arab doctors and medical students to help out in its field hospitals, which are suffering from a dearth of qualified personnel. Using social media, the jihadists have been targeting Israeli medical and pharmacy students who are studying in Jordan in an effort to recruit them before they return to Israel to focus on their specialties.