Egyptians married to Israeli women lose citizenship

CAIRO: A top court here on Saturday directed the government to take necessary steps to strip Egyptian men married to Israelis of their citizenship as it upheld an earlier ruling over the issue amid growing resentment against the Jewish state.

In a ruling that cannot be appealed, Judge Mohammed al-Husseini of the Supreme Administrative Court on Saturday upheld last year's verdict of a lower court that the interior minister must look into the cases of Egyptian men married to Israeli women, and their children, in order to "take the necessary steps to strip them of their nationality."

The court asked the government to consider each case separately.

Lawyer Nabil al-Wahsh said he originally brought the case to the court so as to prevent the creation of a generation "disloyal to Egypt and the Arab world."

Children of such marriages "should not be allowed to perform their military service," he said.

The lower court ruling last year had forced the government to appeal against the case, saying it was for parliament to decide on such matters.

Even as analysts debate the number of Egyptians married to Israelis, it is estimated to be around 30,000.

Egypt is among the few Arab states that has full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state following a peace deal with Israel in 1979.

Hundreds of Egyptians married Israeli women after thousands of them moved to Israel in search of work following their return from Iraq due to the 1990 Gulf War.