Israel is set for the first time to deport citizens convicted of terrorism who are receiving payments from the Palestinian Authority, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Coalition Whip Ofir Katz announced Wednesday.
In a joint statement, the officials said four individuals are currently in advanced stages of the deportation process, with proceedings initiated against hundreds more. It did not identify the four.
The announcement followed a classified Knesset committee meeting earlier attended by Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, where they reviewed the implementation of a February 2023 law allowing the revocation of citizenship from convicted terrorists and their deportation.
“Terrorists and terror supporters who are citizens or residents of Israel will receive no reward for their actions,” the defense minister said, adding that “those who choose murder and hatred will be deported and stripped of their citizenship.”
Coalition whip Katz called the move “a historic moment,” adding: “In the fight against terror, there are no compromises.”
A source familiar with the discussions held at the Knesset meeting told Haaretz that Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon told participants that the attorney general has assessed that the four cases would stand up to challenges in the High Court.
The joint statement said that after a delay of two years spent preparing to implement the law, this week the defense minister instructed relevant bodies in the security establishment to pass on to the interior minister the details needed to immediately apply the law.
Far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir welcomed the development, saying in a statement that it is “an important, just, and necessary step.”
The minister went on to say his Otzma Yehudit party would also “not stop” in its efforts to legislate the death penalty for terrorists.
The PA practice of paying allowances to those convicted of carrying out terror attacks on Israelis, and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks, has been pilloried by critics as incentivizing terror, and held up by Israel as a symbol of PA corruption and its inability to serve as a partner for peace.
Palestinian leaders have long defended the payments, describing them as a form of social welfare and necessary compensation for victims of what they said is Israel’s callous military justice system in the West Bank.
The deportation law, an amendment to Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law, applies to both Israeli citizens and permanent residents incarcerated following a conviction for terror, aiding terror, harming Israeli sovereignty, inciting war, or aiding an enemy during wartime.
The law enables citizenship to be revoked even if the person has no other citizenship, provided they have a permanent residence status outside of Israel. Once citizenship is revoked, the person would be denied entry back into Israel.
Haaretz reported that those subject to the law can also be expelled to the Palestinian Authority.
Under pressure from the Trump administration, in February, the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree ending what critics had dubbed the “pay-to-slay” system.
Rather than conditioning welfare payments to Palestinian security prisoners on the length of their sentences in Israeli jails, the decree stated that families of prisoners and slain attackers will be eligible for stipends based solely on their financial needs, as is the case with other Palestinians.
In April, the PA invited the Trump administration to verify that the change is being implemented.