Knesset passes law to strip Israeli citizenship from terror convicts paid by PA

By Carrie Keller-Lynn 15 February 2023, 4:20 pm

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Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

Security forces at the scene of a terror attack near Jerusalem's Old City on January 28, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset passes a law to strip convicted terrorists who receive funding from the Palestinian Authority or an associated organization of their citizenship.

Getting rare cross-Knesset support, the law passes 94-10 on its third and final reading.

While its main sponsor was Likud MK Ofir Katz, it also counted members of the opposition’s right-wing and center-left lawmakers among its cosigned supporters.

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.

The law also expands the ability to revoke citizenship from persons lacking 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.

The Palestinian Authority regularly pays stipends to convicted terrorists, and the bill also applies to organizations that pay out on the PA’s behalf. The requirement to receive PA-linked money makes the law inapplicable to Jewish terrorists.