Israeli parliament passes citizenship/loyalty law

Mairav Zonszein By Mairav Zonszein March 28, 2011 | Edit

“There is no citizenship without loyalty,” said Israeli MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu), who proposed the bill, which passed its final reading in a vote of 37-11 in Israel’s parliament Monday evening. The law will allow the Supreme Court to “revoke citizenship, in addition to issuing prison sentences, against people who are convicted of treason, serious treason, aiding the enemy in a time of war, or having committed terror against the state.”

What is serious treason as opposed to regular treason? Who is the enemy? How is terror against the state defined?

Even the Israeli General Security Service deemed the bill irrational and superfluous.

During the bill’s final committee hearings, a Shin Bet attorney said that there are enough provisions in existing law to strip citizens’ citizenship as needed. He added that the bill itself was problematic and that Israeli Arabs indeed believe that the law is aimed at them.

Foreign Minister and primo legislator Avigdor Lieberman has another notch on his belt:

[Lieberman] lauded the Knesset’s decision as a step toward “contending with the phenomenon of exploiting democracy in order to subvert it.”

I am officially starting a campaign to revoke Yisrael Beiteinu MKs’ citizenship. Ideas are welcome.

Mairav Zonszein

Mairav Zonszein is a journalist and editor who writes about Israel-Palestine and its role in U.S. politics. Her publications include The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Intercept, VICE News, Foreign Policy and many more.

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