Widow of Palestinian attacker faces deportation

The widow of a Palestinian man who staged an attack on an Israeli synagogue has had her residency permit revoked in Jerusalem, and faces deportation to the West Bank.

Nadia Abu Jamal, widow of Ghassan Abu Jamal who carried out a deadly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, with her son on Nov 26, 2014. (AHMAD GHARABLI/Getty)

Israel has revoked the residency permit of the wife of a Palestinian who killed five Israelis in a synagogue attack, as part of an Israeli government clampdown on relatives and supporters of Palestinian attackers. 

Acting for the first time on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge to revoke the residency permit of anyone involved in terrorism, Nadia Abu Jamal will have her East Jerusalem permit cancelled.

Ms Abu Jamal's husband, Ghassan and his cousin Udai Abu Jamal, killed four rabbis and a policeman on November 18 with a gun and meat cleavers before they were shot dead by police. It was the deadliest such incident in six years in Jerusalem.

Ms Abu Jamal described her husband as a "martyr" and denounced Israel's decision as unjust.

"No country, no human rights law would accept this. My husband is a martyr, rest in peace, but he left three children, two of whom are sick and need treatment. They (Israelis) killed their father, they want to destroy and they want to take my residency permit and and deport me. Who can I leave my children with?"

Ms Abu Jamal said two of her children are too ill to travel and must remain in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has also pledged to push for legislation which will deny benefits like Israeli health care and national insurance to relatives and supporters of Palestinian attackers.

"The state of Israel will not allow those who incite and provoke, those who send the terrorists, and of course the terrorists and their relatives who support them, to benefit from Israel's residency rights," he told the Israeli parliament.

In recent months and amid growing tensions, Mr Netanyahu has accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in Jerusalem that has lead to the death of 11 Israelis. Around a dozen Palestinians have also been killed, including several of those who carried out the attacks.

Mr Netanyahu has also resumed demolishing the homes of Palestinians suspected of terrorism, a tactic halted in 2005 after the Israeli army said it was counterproductive, although surveys suggest many Israelis support it.