Interior Minister Gilad Erdan on Sunday revoked the permanent residence status of a man who assisted in a suicide bombing that killed 21 Israeli teenagers and wounded more than a hundred people in 2001. Mahmoud Nadi drove the suicide bomber to the Dolphinarium dance club in Tel Aviv 13 years ago and has since been convicted of being an accessory to manslaughter, accessory to causing grave injury and assisting in an illegal entry into Israel. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In a letter addressed to Nadi, Erdan wrote that "under these circumstances, in light of the severity of your actions and your blatant breach of loyalty toward the state of Israel as a resident of the state, I have decided to assert my authority to revoke your permanent Israeli residence license." With this decision, Nadi will essentially be removed from Israel's census -- his Israeli ID card will be revoked and he will no longer be eligible for any social benefits (like health insurance and social security). "Israel is being overrun by a wave of terrorism and incitement, in which residents of the country are actively involved," the minister said explaining his decision. "Legal residents are carrying out terror attacks, helping terrorists, justifying their actions and even inciting others to commit similar crimes and acts of murder." "These people cannot continue to enjoy a permanent status in this country, and I will do everything in my power to strip them of their residency and prevent them from receiving any financial benefit that this status entails," Erdan said. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein, had given Erdan the green light to move ahead with this process during a meeting on the matter last week. The meeting came after the prime minister announced that he would soon submit a bill for a cabinet vote that would strip permanent residence and social benefits from individuals convicted of acts of terrorism or nationalistically motivated crimes. The bill seeks to impose the measure on the convicted individual's immediate family as well. "It is inconceivable that those who engage in terrorism against the State of Israel would enjoy rights such as social security benefits," Netanyahu said Saturday. Over the weekend, Erdan noted that he had instructed his ministry to explore ways to extend his ministerial jurisdiction in a way that would allow him to revoke the permanent residency status of east Jerusalem Arabs affiliated with terrorism groups. Netanyahu's initiative comes in the wake of last week's directive to raze terrorists' homes, a move already underway in east Jerusalem. Government sources said that the multilayered punitive action against terrorists and their families is meant to generate deterrence among residents of east Jerusalem who support terrorist groups. Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On criticized Netanyahu's legislation proposal, saying, "This is another inflammatory suggestion. We should be using the full extent of the law against terrorists and punishing them severely -- not revoking their residency. Revoking people's residency status would turn people into refugees in their own country." Gal-On further warned that "revoking relatives' permanent residency status constitutes a form of collective punishment that would only amplify people's hatred toward Israel and motivation to pursue terrorism, and it would turn Israel into a pariah in the eyes of the international community." Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett commented on the matter on a panel hosted by Channel 2's "Meet the Press" Saturday, saying, "Suicide terrorists really do go to heaven -- their families get benefits, they are residents of Israel, and everything's great. We have to change this equation. We have to revoke their residency status and benefits."
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beytenu), who also participated in the panel, commented on the tensions in east Jerusalem, saying, "Those who support terrorism should be stripped of their residency and expelled to Judea and Samaria."
X
שיתוף כתבה
Suicide bombing accomplice stripped of Israeli residence
Move comes after PM says he will introduce bill seeking to revoke permanent residence status of convicted terrorists and their families • Measure meant to generate deterrence among terrorism supporters • Meretz head warns against "collective punishment."