Israel revokes Israeli Arab's citizenship

Man is charged with driving suicide bomber

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's interior minister revoked the citizenship Monday of an Israeli Arab accused of involvement in terror attacks.

The man, Nahed Abu-kishak, has been charged with being a member of the Hamas military wing and with driving a suicide bomber to the Israeli town of Kfar Saba in April 2001. In the attack, an Israeli civilian was killed and others wounded.

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"The decision was reached in coordination with the attorney general and on the basis of information that Abu-kishak was active in the Hamas organization and participated in very serious crimes that led to the death and wounding of Israeli civilians in a suicide attack and another attempted attack that was averted at the last minute," said a statement from Interior Minister Eli Yishai's office.

A spokeswoman for the minister said the decision to revoke citizenship was made based on information from security services that detailed Abu-kishak's alleged activity in Hamas.

The U.S. State Department has labeled Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group, as a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and the Israeli military.

The interior minister said that Abu-kishak's actions "were a breach of trust in the state of Israel" and that he had carried out these actions while "exploiting his Israeli ID card."

The statement added that the interior minister is considering revoking the citizenships of two other Israeli Arabs.