Israel Seeks to Revoke Citizenship of Two Security Prisoners for Aiding Hamas

The Israeli state has filed a precedent-setting request with the Central District Court to revoke the citizenship of Rani Of and Shadi Aidi, former employees of Cellcom convicted of serious security offenses. The request was made at the behest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds the Interior Ministry powers in this matter, and approved by the Attorney General. This is the first such criminal proceeding under the Citizenship Law for breach of loyalty.

Of and Aidi, who had extensive access to Cellcom's computer systems, were convicted of planning to damage vital infrastructure during wartime to assist Hamas. They admitted acting from nationalist and ideological motives to disable Cellcom's systems during military operations, thereby harming networks used by Israeli security forces. The indictment revealed that Of maintained ongoing contact with senior Hamas officials in Turkey and provided them with sensitive information about communication infrastructure and security systems.

In 2024, Of was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and Aidi to 5.5 years. The prosecution, representing the state through the Central District Attorney's Office and the Cyber Department of the State Attorney's Office, described their actions as "true acts of treason." The state's position emphasized that their conduct represents an extreme and clear breach of loyalty, justifying citizenship revocation. The offenses involved long-term, deliberate planning and abuse of access to critical national infrastructure to aid the enemy during conflict.