Knesset parliamentary committee has approved expedition of legislation to Israel moves to strip terrorists of citizenship.
The measure comes as the latest of a series taken by the new government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The key House Committee greenlighted an expedited review of legislation seeking to deny citizenship or residency of convicted terrorists who receive compensation from the Palestinian Authority (PA) for their crimes, as part of its “Pay to Slay” program that awards payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families dependent on the severity of the crimes against Israelis.
“For years we’ve become accustomed to having an entity receive funding from the State of Israel while it maintains an official price list: ‘Murdered a Jew? Here’s a stipend – and if you’re an Israeli citizen, you’ll get more, depending on how many people you’ve killed,’” said Religious Zionism Member of Knesset (MK) Simcha Rothman.
Charging that, “The Palestinian Authority is trying to recruit terrorists from among Israeli citizens because it is easier for them to carry out terror attacks,” he appealed to his fellow lawmakers, “the bare minimum we can do as a moral country is to revoke their citizenship and residency.”
The draft was passed by a 10-2 majority that included members of both the ruling coalition and opposition.
A preliminary reading of the bill, introduced by the Religious Zionism and Likud political factions, may be held as soon as tomorrow. Coalition Chairman and Likud MK Ofir Katz expressed optimism the third and final reading will be held within the next two weeks.
If ultimately passed, the fast-tracked law would revise existing legislation that suspends citizenship of convicted terrorists but permits them to continue living in the country.
Many MKs want to see the hoped-for legislation would facilitate the deportation of convicted terrorist Karim Younis, released from prison last week after serving a term for the 1980 murder of IDF soldier Avraham Bromberg.
Israeli-Arab MKs oppose the proposed legislation, arguing that it would only be applied to Arabs and not Jews.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Hal Lindsey, in his article, “What Is Hamas?” noted that “a surprising number” of companies and politicians side with the “Palestinians” over Israel and, in so doing, have stood on the side of terrorists.
“They almost always say they are standing with Palestinians, not Hamas,” Linsey stated. “But that’s like coming out against the United States in World War II, claiming you only support Germans, not Nazis.”
“The eradication of Israel is their goal,” he urged. “They don’t just want to win a military victory over Israel or carve out a Palestinian state. Hamas wants nothing less than the destruction of the Jewish people. Genocide is their aim and reason.”
In his article, Lindsey detailed how the Hamas charter promotes Jewish stereotypes, anti-semitic false accusations, and the murder of Jews. Furthermore, its charter is vehemently against peace with Israel, stating, “There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.”
In a recent article, Olivier Melnick argued that any definition of antisemitism would be incomplete without factoring in a critical component: Antisemitism is demonic.
“My standard definition for antisemitism is as follows: Antisemitism is the irrational, satanic hatred of the Jewish people and Israel, characterized by thoughts, words and/or deeds against them. I have yet to see a definition of antisemitism that includes the words satanic or demonic. That aspect of the problem is seldom, if ever, mentioned,” he explained, “but it is a key, if not THE key component.”
“The reason is simple, and it is found in the Bible,” Melnick maintained. “God has Israel and the Jewish people at the core of His plan for mankind. When at the end of the seven-year Tribulation (also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble), Israel will realize that Yeshua is indeed the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world, and the Jewish people will call upon Him corporately (Zechariah 12:10). It was Yeshua who declared to Israel that His return was dependent upon their crying out to Him ‘Baruch Haba Bashem Adonai’, in Matthew 23:37-39.”
“Satan knows that time is coming,” Melnick continued. “He continues to do everything he can to denigrate, demonize and decimate the Jews so that he can keep his position of ‘Prince of the power of the air’ (Ephesians 2:1-2). This is the ONLY reason antisemitism exists, and this is why I am convinced from a biblical perspective that it will not cease but only increase until Yeshua Sar Shalom (Jesus the Prince of Peace) returns.”
