Controversial Knesset bills could revoke citizenship

The debate over citizenship revocation in Israel:

“In my opinion, even if the interior minister has the power to revoke residency status, it is an illegal and undemocratic action. In any event, the accomplice driver [Nadi] was already tried and punished; what’s the point, then, in divesting him of his social rights all of a sudden; and why present it as a showcase?” Meretz Knesset member Issawi Frej, the only Arab Knesset member for a Zionist party, told Al-Monitor. Frej is furious at Erdan’s [the Israeli Interior Minister’s] resolution, and argues that, like all other nationalist and racist legislative initiatives of the current Knesset, this initiative, too, is driven by political considerations.

Frej said: “If Erdan is so keen on fighting terrorism, why doesn’t he take on for starters the case of Yigal Amir [the Israeli assassin of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin]? Ultimately, whatever way you look at it, these bills all go against the Arabs. What I have to say is quite simple: Israel is governed by law. Whoever perpetrates an act of terrorism is tried and punished, and all are equal before the law, Arabs and Jews alike. Why, then, should Erdan blow his own horn about [his initiative for] the revocation of residency status, and thus keep fanning the flames? Because he wants to win points among his supporters. It will surely benefit him in the Likud primaries. There is a trend now of going against the Arabs, and what we are witnessing these days is no less than a crisis of values. There is no other way to describe it.”

Controversial Knesset bills could revoke citizenship – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.