Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri ordered April 29 the permanent deportation of four Palestinian public figures from Jerusalem. The decision culminates a 12-year legal and political Israeli battle against three members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and a former minister in the Palestinian government.

Ahmad Atoun, Mohammad Abu Teir and Mohammad Totah from Jerusalem were elected in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. By signing and sponsoring the Oslo Accord, Israel and the United States had tacitly approved the convening of the elections and the participation of Jerusalem residents, both as candidates and as voters. The three were on the Change and Reform list that was supported by the Islamic movement Hamas, which won the majority of the seats. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the list, was asked to set up a government, and he appointed a fourth Jerusalemite, Khaled Abu Arafa, as minister of Jerusalem affairs. Abu Arafa is the fourth person whose permanent residency status has been revoked.

Israel reacted angrily and arrested and harassed the four men for years. In June 2006, Israel deported them from Jerusalem on charges of not showing “loyalty” to the State of Israel. Over the last 12 years, they have been fighting their deportation in the Israeli courts. On Sept. 13, 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the deportation order was not legal but gave the Israeli government six months to respond. However, on March 7, the Israeli Knesset amended the "border and entry law" by adding a clause allowing for the deportation of anyone who doesn’t show "loyalty" to the State of Israel. The order to deport the four comes based on that amended law.

Abu Arafa told Al-Monitor that he and his colleagues are conferring with lawyers to decide on the next moves. “We have few options left, but we are considering them all, including going back to the Israeli Supreme Court,” he said.