Bulldozer used in attack
Photo: AFP
Knesset votes in favor of stripping citizenship from families of terrorists
In move unrelated to Jerusalem terror attack – Two bills granting interior minister permission to revoke citizenship rights from families of terrorists pass preliminary readings at Knesset
Just a short while after the bulldozer attack shocked Jerusalem, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading two bills revoking the rights to citizenship from the families of terrorists. The bills were brought to a vote without relation to the attack on Wednesday.
Similarly to the terrorist who attacked the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in the capital, in which eight yeshiva students were murdered, the terrorist that carried out the bulldozer attack was a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem. He was also a father of two.
Punishment
PM calls to raze east Jerusalem home of bulldozer driver who killed three people in downtown Jerusalem Wednesday; MK Tartman: We must demolish his house and deport his family to Gaza
The first bill was proposed by MK Nissan Slomiansky (National Union - NRP), and called on the government to allow the interior minister to deny terrorists and their families the right to settle permanently in Israel. "It is also a security requirement," Slomiansky said, "in order to limit their stay in the country and their possibility to move around in Israel."
Slomiansky explained that "the revoking of the license also necessarily bring about the stripping of rights according to the National Insurance Law such as welfare and the like, because there it doesn't make sense for the State to support them."
The second bill was proposed by MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud). It determines that the interior minister will receive permission to revoke citizenship from anyone who committed a terrorist act against the Israeli people, or was involved in a terror organization.
Scene of Wednesday's attack. (Photo: Reuters)
Edelstein explained his bill, stating: "During the past few years there has been a steady increase in cases in which Israeli citizens were involved in terror attacks and attempts at attacks against citizens and residents of this country. The current law does not give a proper response to the absurd repercussions of these cases and as a consequence we bear witness to cases of terrorists caught performing or attempting an attack, but they and their families continue to enjoy all of the benefits, social and otherwise, received by citizens of Israel.
"Revoking their citizenship will constitute an apt punishment for those that oppose the existence of the State, and do everything in order to harm it and its citizens." After the vote, Edelstein told Ynet that "this week the government decided to oppose the bill, but after the after the attack in which the terrorist was an Israeli citizen, the coalition granted its members the freedom to vote."
