Israel's top court okays revoking citizenship of 'terrorists'

Jerusalem, July 22 Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that the government may revoke the citizenship of people convicted of terrorism and actions that constitute a breach of trust against the country.

A panel of seven judges led by Supreme Court President Esther Hayut said that a person convicted of "breach of trusts against the State of Israel, such as an act of terror, an act of treason or serious espionage, or acquisition of citizenship in a hostile state" could face a cancelation of their citizenship, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under the ruling, Israeli citizens convicted of these offenses can have their citizenship revoked even if they have no other citizenship, but would be issued a residency permit allowing them to stay in the country.

The ruling came in response to a request by the interior ministry to deny the citizenship of two Arab citizens of Israel who were convicted of carrying out two separate attacks.

The two are Muhammad Mafaraja, who set an explosive device on a bus in Tel Aviv in 2012, injuring 24 people, and Alaa Ziud, who carried out a stabbing attack at the Gan Shmuel Junction in northern Israel in 2015, injuring four people.

However, the court canceled the ministry's requests to revoke their citizenship due to "failures" in the processes of submission.

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