Netanyahu seeks to strip Palestinian citizens convicted of violent crimes of Israeli nationality

Netanyahu seeks to revoke Israeli nationality from Palestinian citizens convicted of violent crimes, raising legal and ethical concerns.

Israel has asked a court to revoke the citizenship of two men convicted of terrorism offences, in what appears to be the first test of a law allowing the deportation of Palestinian citizens convicted of certain violent crimes.

Court documents filed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (February 12, 2026) argued that the severity of the crimes, along with payments those found guilty allegedly received from a Palestinian Authority fund, justify revoking citizenship and expelling the individuals convicted of violent attacks.

Roughly one in five Israeli citizens is Palestinian. When the law passed, critics said it was one instance in which Israel's legal system treats Jewish and Palestinian citizens differently. Rights groups argued that basing a deportation law on Palestinian Authority payments effectively limited its application on the basis of race and excluded Jewish Israelis — including settlers convicted of attacks against Palestinians — from the threat of having their citizenship revoked.

Mr. Netanyahu has long argued the fund in question rewards violence, including attacks on civilians. Palestinian officials, however, have defended it as a safety net for the broad cross-section of society with family members in Israeli detention. They have dismissed Mr. Netanyahu's focus on the relatively small share of beneficiaries involved in such attacks.

Mr. Netanyahu in a statement this week said proceedings were launched against two men with more such cases were on their way. One of the court filings seen by The Associated Press details the request against Mohamad Hamad, who the state's request says was convicted of "offences that constitute an act of terrorism and receiving funds in connection with terrorism".

It alleges Hamad, a 48-year-old citizen from east Jerusalem, received payment after he was sentenced in 2002 on charges that included shootings and weapons trafficking. He went on to serve more than two decades in prison before his release.