Deri Moves to Revoke Citizenship of Haifa Terrorist

Minister of the Interior Rabbi Aryeh Deri is seeking the cancelation of the citizenship of the perpetrator of a terror attack in Haifa in January, Ynet reported on Monday.

Rabbi Deri asked Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit for clearance to initiate proceedings to revoke the citizenship of Mohammad Shinawi, 21, from Haifa, charged with the murder of Guy Kafri, Hy”d, 47, in a January terror attack.

Kafri worked as a minibus driver and was a resident of Haifa’s Nesher neighborhood. He was shot and killed during a shooting spree on January 3. Rabbi Yehiel Iluz, ybl”c, was also shot and seriously wounded during the incident.

Under questioning by police investigators, Shinawi confessed that the sole reason for the attack was his hatred of Jews. “On that day all the hatred inside me exploded, all my hatred for Jews. There was no significance about the date. I simply felt that the time had come to carry out the attack,” he said.

In a letter sent to Mandelblit on Monday, the interior minister wrote that “The use and abuse of status in Israel — especially that of the citizen — in order to kill another Israeli citizen is inexcusable. I am determined to revoke the status of those Israelis.”

There have only been three cases in which citizenship was revoked for acts of terror, due to the legal complexities involved.

Shinawi’s attorney argued that revocation of citizenship can only be accomplished after the conviction and sentencing of his client.