What Happened
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed court documents seeking to revoke the Israeli citizenship of two Palestinian men convicted of terrorism offences, in the first use of a 2023 law allowing citizenship revocation and deportation.
- The law permits stripping citizenship from Palestinian citizens convicted of certain violent crimes (including terrorism) who received financial support from the Palestinian Authority as a reward.
- One of the men was released from prison in 2024 after serving 23 years for security-related offences; the other is currently serving an 18-year sentence following a 2016 conviction.
- Civil rights groups, including Israel's Adalah legal centre, called the move a "cynical propaganda" exercise that violates basic rule-of-law principles, including acting against individuals who have completed their sentences.
- Critics argued the law effectively targets only Palestinian citizens, as the criteria (Palestinian Authority payments) exclude Jewish Israelis convicted of similar violent acts.
Static Topic Bridges
Citizenship and Denationalisation Under International Law
The right to nationality is protected under Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Denationalisation, or the involuntary revocation of citizenship, is one of the most extreme measures a state can take against an individual and is subject to significant international legal constraints.
- Article 15 of UDHR states: "Everyone has the right to a nationality" and "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality."
- The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness permits deprivation of nationality in limited cases (fraud, disloyalty, extended foreign residence) but prohibits rendering a person stateless.
- Few countries practice denationalisation for criminal convictions; notable recent examples include Bahrain (revoking citizenship of dissidents) and the UK (for dual nationals involved in terrorism).
- The European Convention on Nationality (1997) permits deprivation only when another nationality exists, to prevent statelessness.
- If deported, the affected individuals' destination state is unclear, raising practical and legal complications.
Connection to this news: Israel's use of citizenship revocation against Palestinian citizens convicted of terrorism raises fundamental questions about the limits of denationalisation under international law, particularly regarding the prohibition on arbitrary deprivation and the risk of statelessness.
Israel-Palestine Conflict and Arab Citizens of Israel
Approximately 21% of Israel's population (about 2 million people) are Arab citizens, predominantly Palestinian in origin, who hold Israeli citizenship. They have full legal citizenship rights but face documented disparities in land allocation, infrastructure, and political representation. The Nation-State Law (2018) declared Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, downgrading Arabic from an official language.
- Arab citizens of Israel are descendants of Palestinians who remained within Israel's borders after the 1948 war (Nakba).
- The Nation-State Law (Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, 2018) was criticised for formalising a hierarchy between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens.
- Arab citizens serve in the Knesset (parliament) and have voting rights, but civil society groups document systemic discrimination in planning, policing, and resource allocation.
- The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (temporary order, repeatedly renewed since 2003) restricts family reunification for Palestinian citizens married to residents of the West Bank or Gaza.
Connection to this news: The citizenship revocation move deepens concerns about the differential legal treatment of Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel, particularly when the law's criteria effectively ensure it can only be applied to Palestinian citizens.
Comparative Citizenship Laws: India's Citizenship Framework
India's citizenship framework, governed by the Citizenship Act 1955 (and amendments), provides for acquisition, termination, and deprivation of citizenship. The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) raised domestic and international debates about the intersection of citizenship, religion, and state power.
- Under the Citizenship Act, Indian citizenship can be terminated by acquisition of foreign citizenship (Section 9) or renunciation (Section 8).
- Section 10 allows deprivation of citizenship by the Central Government if it was obtained by fraud, if the person showed disloyalty, or if they traded with an enemy during war; this applies only to naturalised or registered citizens, not citizens by birth.
- The CAA 2019 fast-tracked citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, prompting criticism about introducing a religious test for citizenship.
- Unlike the Israeli law, Indian law does not provide for citizenship revocation based on criminal conviction or receipt of payments from a foreign entity.
Connection to this news: Israel's citizenship revocation law offers a comparative reference point for understanding how states navigate the tension between national security imperatives and the fundamental right to nationality, a theme directly relevant to India's own citizenship debates.
Key Facts & Data
- The Israeli citizenship revocation law was enacted in 2023 and is being used for the first time.
- Arab citizens constitute approximately 21% of Israel's population (about 2 million people).
- The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness prohibits rendering persons stateless through denationalisation.
- Article 15 of the UDHR guarantees the right to a nationality.
- Israel's Nation-State Law (2018) declared Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.
- The Palestinian Authority's prisoner payment fund has been estimated at over $300 million annually by Israeli sources, though the PA disputes these figures.
- In India, Section 10 of the Citizenship Act 1955 allows deprivation of citizenship only for naturalised or registered citizens, not citizens by birth.