The State Attorney's Office has filed an unprecedented request with the Central District Court to revoke the Israeli citizenship of two security prisoners, Rani Ouf and Shadi Aidi.
The request was submitted at the direction of the Prime Minister, who holds the Interior Minister's authority for such matters, and with the approval of the Attorney General, after the two were convicted of, among other offenses, conspiring to assist the enemy during wartime and passing information to the enemy with the intent of harming State security.
According to the State Attorney's Office, this is the first request filed under the criminal track of the Citizenship Law to revoke citizenship on the grounds of breach of allegiance. The State argued that "the offenses for which the defendants were convicted justify the step of revoking citizenship, as they constitute an extreme and extraordinary breach of the duty of loyalty that citizens owe the State."
According to the request, the two men worked for Cellcom and held extensive access privileges to the company's computer systems and communications infrastructure; they spent years advancing a plan to disable the company's computer and information systems during a war or military operation in order to assist the Hamas terrorist organization. The request also noted that the plan included the transfer of sensitive information about the company's communications infrastructure and cybersecurity systems, as well as the introduction of tools that would allow the disruption of the communications network.
Both terrorists were convicted after pleading guilty to conspiring to assist the enemy during wartime and passing information to the enemy with the intent of harming the country's security.
Rani Ouf was also convicted of expressing intent to commit treason and maintaining contact with a foreign agent. In 2024, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, a suspended sentence, and a fine. Shadi Aidi was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison, a suspended sentence, and a fine.
The State argued that the pair's actions amounted to "acts of outright treason and a blatant violation of the fundamental duty of loyalty to the State," stressing that the plot was intended to be carried out during wartime, was motivated by nationalist and ideological considerations, for the purpose of assisting Palestinian Arab terror organizations.
The request also notes that the Citizenship Law's provision allowing revocation of citizenship for breach of allegiance was created precisely for cases such as these, in which the fundamental bond between a citizen and the State has been severed.