Center for the Defence of the Individual - HaMoked to the Minister of Interior: proceedings for the revocation of Israeli status of three East Jerusalem residents must be suspended pending final decision on the public petition addressing this issue
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
17.11.2015

HaMoked to the Minister of Interior: proceedings for the revocation of Israeli status of three East Jerusalem residents must be suspended pending final decision on the public petition addressing this issue

Following media reports that the Minister of Interior has initiated action to revoke the residency status of four East Jerusalem youths suspected of perpetrating attacks against Israelis, thus far three of them have received interior ministry notices about the intent to revoke their Israeli status. In the notices, the Minister announces his intention to act under Art.11(a) of the Entry into Israel Law 1952, which gives him discretion in revoking permits for residency in Israel (residency status), and this, due to breach of allegiance to the State of Israel. The three have been given 30 days from the date of the notices to present their written arguments before the Minister; which would undergo consideration before a final decision is made in each case.

On November 16, 2015, HaMoked, representing the youths in this matter, contacted the Minister of Interior to demand the suspension of any revocation proceedings concerning the four, pending final judgment in the public petition dealing with status revocation due to breach of allegiance (HCJ 7803/06). The court issued an order nisi in this petition, which requires the state to prove “the Minister of Interior’s authority to revoke a permit of permanent residency in Israel on the grounds of breach of allegiance to the state”. Therefore, HaMoked argued, so long as the petition was pending, the Minister of Interior’s decisions to revoke the permanent residency status of East Jerusalem residents are legally suspect.

HaMoked further noted that despite its notification to the Minister of Interior, dated October 22, 2015, about assuming representation of the four youths in the status revocation proceedings, HaMoked was not sent copies of the notices about the intent to revoke their status. Moreover, the notices were delivered to the youths in Hebrew only, rather than in Arabic, their native tongue which is a national language of Israel. Given all these reasons, clarified HaMoked, the 30-day count for submitting the arguments must begin from the date the notice was delivered to their attorneys.