Karim Youssef Fadl Younis (; born December 24, 1956) is a

Palestinian citizen of Israel Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

who served 40 years in Israeli prison after being convicted in 1983 of the 1980 kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg. After serving his sentence, he was released in 2023. Younis was the longest-serving

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

in Israeli prison.

Early life and conviction

Younis is from

'Ara Ara (; ) is a village in the Haifa District in northern Israel, located in the Wadi Ara valley. Since 1985, 'Ara has been part of the Ar'ara local council. It is located north of highway 65, between Ar'ara and Kfar Qara. Its population of 4,6 ...

, a predominantly Arab village in Israel. Younis was arrested by the Israeli army at school on June 1, 1983. He and his cousin Maher Younis were charged with and subsequently convicted of the 1980 kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg in the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

. Karim and Maher were initially sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was then changed to life in imprison, then commuted to 40 years in prison by

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

in 2011. According to the Palestinian Prisoner's Club, he was one of several Palestinian prisoners that were supposed to be released due to a deal with the courts, but this ended up falling through.

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i authorities refused to release Younis because he held Israeli citizenship.

Release

Younis was released on January 5, 2023 after serving his sentence. He was dropped off by Israeli police at a bus station in

Ra'anana Ra'anana () is an affluent city in the southern Sharon, Israel, Sharon Plain of the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where a ...

, north of Tel Aviv. His family was not informed of his release or his location, however, he managed to get in contact with them via a passerby. From there, he was taken to 'Ara, where he was greeted with large crowds. At his release, he was considered the longest-serving Palestinian citizen in Israeli prison. He is considered to have served the longest continuous sentence of any Palestinian. After Younis's release, Israeli Interior Minister

Aryeh Deri Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (; ), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician and one of the founders of the Shas political party who served as the Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Health, and Minister ...

called for Younis to be stripped of his Israeli citizenship. Deri's call was supported by Bromberg's nephew. Younis' cousin Maher was released from Eshel prison near

Be'er Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...

on January 19. Maher was the second-longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli prison, as he was arrested later than Karim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Younis, Karim 1956 births Living people Palestinian hunger strikers Palestinian people convicted of murder Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death People convicted of murder by Israel Prisoners sentenced to death by Israel