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.

The offenses amount to “effective treason,” said the office, arguing the two men were convicted........

© The Times of Israel