Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar on Monday evening wrote a letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, asking him to revoke the citizenship of soccer player Ataa Jaber, who plays for the “Palestine” national team.
Zohar’s request comes after Jaber, during a World Cup qualifying match, expressed solidarity with Hamas and stood a moment of silence in memory of the "victims in Gaza", while ignoring Israelis who were murdered in Hamas’ attack on October 7.
In his letter to the Interior Minister, Minister Zohar wrote, "This is a player who in the past was the captain of the Israeli youth team, was educated in the youth department of Maccabi Haifa and played in the senior team of Maccabi Haifa. Against the background of this clear identification with terrorists, which is prohibited according to the anti-terrorism law, I would like the citizenship of Jaber to be revoked in accordance with the conditions stipulated in the Citizenship Law 1972. According to the aforementioned law, the Minister of the Interior may revoke a person's Israeli citizenship if it is proven that person committed an act that constitutes a breach of trust to the State of Israel."
"It is inconceivable that in the midst of the war in Gaza, an Israeli citizen would choose to identify with the enemy who massacred and murdered over 1,300 Israeli people, women and babies on October 7, 2023. We are required to show zero tolerance towards supporters of terrorism and to take a hard line against any Israeli citizen who shows support for the enemy in order to make an example," added Zohar.