Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked responded to the criticism of Hadash MK Aida Touma Sliman, who accused the minister of committing a "war crime" by deporting attorney Salah Hamouri to France after his residency was revoked about two weeks ago.
"MK Sliman is trying to harm Israel by spreading lies to the int'l community. Hamouri is a terrorist with French citizenship that tried to kill Israelis, and was deported according to int'l law. Sliman should focus on serving her constituents instead of promoting terrorists," Shaked tweeted, including a screenshot of Israel National News - Arutz Sheva's article on Touma Sliman's remarks.
Hamouri is a French citizen and permanent resident of Israel. He has been active for many years in the ranks of the Palestinian Arab terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
During this time, he organized, incited and planned to carry out terrorist attacks on his own initiative and on behalf of the organization against citizens and prominent figures in Israel, including planning to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Touma Sliman had said: "Minister Shaked probably says to herself every morning: I only have a few days left in office. What other crime can I commit before I leave? This is exactly how you can describe what was done with Shaked's order yesterday morning to deport attorney Salah Hamouri, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem after many months of administrative detention."
"The deportation order was accepted and carried out despite a pending legal process in Hamouri's case, as he was scheduled to have a hearing on the same matter exactly at the beginning of next year," she added.
"Hamouri’s deportation from his homeland is a war crime," said Touma Sliman. "His administrative arrest is also defined as a war crime, but Minister Shaked found it important to trample, run over and commit crimes on her way out as well. It seems that Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked believes that this is how she will be able to silence and subjugate the Palestinians."
Touma Sliman concluded her remarks by saying, "Until today, a lot of bureaucracy has caused the ethnic cleansing [of Palestinians] from East Jerusalem and the denial of their residency. Now it is done in a very visible way using instructions. A precedent that we must not remain silent about."