Arab-Israeli terrorist Karim Younis, 66, whose citizenship may be revoked, was released from prison on Thursday morning.
He and his cousin, Maher, killed Cpl. Avraham Bromberg in 1980 as he was on his way to an army base in the Golan. They kidnapped and shot Bromberg, threw him out of a moving car and left him for dead by the side of a road. Bromberg died several days later.
The two were arrested in 1983, served 40 years behind bars and are considered celebrities as the longest-serving prisoners. Maher is expected to be released in two weeks.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri is moving to revoke their citizenship.
In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Deri wrote on Wednesday, “It is unthinkable that these people will continue to hold Israeli citizenship. Revoking their citizenship will have an important message, when it comes to those who have become symbols for committing criminal, terrorist acts.”
He added, “These things take on a different validity as far as those who use their Israeli citizenship to harm the State of Israel and its citizens are concerned.”
Whether the Younis cousins can be stripped of their citizenship and deported is questionable. The law currently allows this if the person holds citizenship in a second country. The Younis cousins only hold Israeli citizenship but could potentially be deported to the Palestinian Authority.
Karim was appointed to Fatah’s Central Committee by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas in May 2017.
If they are stripped of their citizenship, the cousins would still be allowed to remain in Israel for a period of time under a different status, such as a temporary resident.
Two bills were recently submitted to the Knesset that would strip the citizenship of anyone receiving a terror stipend from the Palestinian Authority.
