Erdan revokes citizenship of Dolphinarium accomplice
Netanyahu instructs that a draft bill be drawn up that would revoke rights from residents who commit terrorist acts.
By NATHAN WISE, GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN, HERB KEINONAnna Kachkova, mourns her 16-year-old daughter Anya at one of 10 funerals held for the victims of a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on June 1.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Interior Minister Gilad Erdan revoked the permanent resident status on Sunday morning of Mahmoud Nadi, the man who drove the suicide bomber to the 2001 terrorist attack that targeted a nightclub at Tel Aviv’s Dolphinarium in June 2001.Twenty-one teenagers were killed and 132 were wounded in what was one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks in the nation’s history after suicide bomber Said Khutari wormed his way into the heart of a crowd of party-goers waiting in line outside the club, before blowing himself up. Both the Islamic Jihad and a group called Hezbollah-Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack, and it was also reported that the terrorist had links to Hamas.Nadi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the attack. He is from Jaljulya, an Arab village near Kfar Saba. The decision takes away Nadi’s right to Israeli social benefits, namely his right to healthcare and National Insurance benefits.“Your actions were so grave and your disloyalty to Israel so blatant that I decided to use my authority to cancel your residency in Israel,” Erdan wrote Nadi.Erdan, who took up his post on November 5, checked with authorities in his ministry whether he had the power to revoke permanent resident status and received a positive answer.“Israel is suffering from a wave of terrorism and incitement and our residents are carrying out and aiding attacks, justifying them, and inciting others to commit more murderous crimes,” he said. “Such people cannot continue to enjoy the status of residents of the state. I will work with full force to remove their resident status and prevent them from receiving the economic benefits that residency gives.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that the country’s relevant authorities are to draw up proposed legislation revoking rights from Israelis either involved in terrorism or inciting against the state.Netanyahu said he directed Erdan and Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit to prepare a bill on the matter.“It is inconceivable that someone who attacks Israeli citizens, or calls for the destruction of Israel – and their family members who support him – will enjoy rights from the National Insurance Institute,” he said.“This law is important to extract a price from attackers and inciters, from rock and petrol bomb throwers, and is a complementary step to the demolition of the homes of terrorists and the creating of deterrence against attackers and inciters.”
