Abu-Tir: No Israeli ID
צילום: דודי ועקנין
Israeli residence permits denied to Palestinian lawmakers
State's response to petition by four Hamas lawmakers asking for Israeli residence says 'members of Palestinian Parliament cannot hold Israeli ID on one hand, point gun at Israel on other'
The state of Israel responded Wednesday to the petition submitted by four members of the Palestinian parliament whose Israeli permanent residence permits were revoked, saying they violated their loyalty to the State of Israel.
"Members of the Palestinian Parliament cannot hold an Israeli identification card on one hand, and point a gun at Israel on the other," read the official State response to the petition submitted by four Palestinian lawmakers from Hamas, including Mahmoud Abu-Tir.
The response, which was delivered by two attorneys on behalf of the State, said that Israel claims that the Hamas members violated their obligation to be loyal to the State of Israel.
In addition the attorneys wrote that the actions of the four in the Palestinian Parliament and cabinet on behalf of Hamas are endangering Israel's national security and threatening public safety.
"The demand is that a man seeking to hold a residence permit in a certain country will not openly act in a parliament or a government of another national entity against the existence of that same state who gives him this permit," the state added in its response.
The state's response also emphasized that this is not "a call to join the Zionist movement. We are talking about a demand to stop belonging to a terror organization, which is calling for the destruction of Israel under the auspices of the government or parliament of a national entity hostile to Israel and which is in a state of armed conflict with it. The state is convinced that this obligation cannot be undermined."
