The State Attorney’s Office requested Wednesday that the Central District Court revoke the citizenship of two Arab Israeli men convicted of aiding Hamas while working for the Cellcom telecommunications company, citing a law passed after their arrest.
Rani Ouf and Shadi Eidi, the two men in question, were found guilty in 2024 of conspiracy and passing information to the enemy for handing over sensitive information on the Israeli cellular firm over to the Palestinian terror group in a bid to sabotage communications in a future war.
They were apprehended and charged in 2022, after years of contact with Hamas agents and sustained attempts to paralyze Cellcom’s networks during wartime, according to prosecutors.
Ouf was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the plot, while Eidi was sentenced to five and a half years.
The State Attorney’s Office said that the revocation of the pair’s citizenship is justified under a 2023 amendment to the Citizenship Law, which allows for the step to be taken against those found guilty of aiding the enemy during wartime, among other security offenses.
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The offenses amount to “effective treason,” said the office, arguing the two men were convicted in “an extreme and exceptional case of violating the duty of loyalty owed by citizens to the state.”
The request was filed at the behest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was approved by Attorney General Gali-Baharav Miara, the office noted.
View of a Cellcom store in Tel Aviv, on September 24, 2019. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
In February, Israel first put the law to use when it revoked the citizenship of two Arab Israeli terrorists who carried out stabbing and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians.
Netanyahu signed the revocation of citizenship and deportation orders, his office announced at the time, with their destination reported to be the Gaza Strip.
The 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, and enables the interior minister to revoke their status after a hearing.
The law enables citizenship to be revoked even if the person lacks a second citizenship, provided they have a permanent residence status outside of Israel. Once citizenship is revoked, the person would be denied entry back into Israel.
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