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An Israeli parliamentary committee deliberated Monday on the final draft of a controversial legislation that would define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
The government says that the bill will only consecrate the existing character of the country. But critics say it excludes the country's Arab minority, which represents about 20 percent of the Israeli population.
Israelis opposed to the bill, considered discriminatory, took to the streets Saturday to protest in large numbers in the capital Tel Aviv. . Reuven Rivlin, the ruling Likud president, who seldom plunges into domestic politics, warned of clauses that seemed to encourage the segregation and downgrading of the status of the Arabic language
. remove some of the more problematic language. But the Israel Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, said the bill was still threatening to undermine Israel's democratic values.
A vote on the bill, defined as a constitutional "basic law", is expected this week. If it is pbaded, it will likely face a challenge from the Supreme Court.
Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence defined its nature as a Jewish and democratic state, a delicate balance that the country has maintained for 70 years. The bill, which has been in various forms for years, seeks to legislate the country's basic identity.
But Amir Fuchs, head of the Defend Democratic Values program at the Democratic Institute of Israel, said it marked a withdrawal from the foundation of Israel. democratic principles. He warned that if this were to happen, it could hinder the power of the courts, undermine the rights of minorities and undermine relations with the Jewish diaspora.
"The main objective is that the" Jewish "element" take precedence over the "democratic" element, to change the balance, "explained Fuchs. "This is part of a national and nationalistic process."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israeli democratism would continue to uphold the rights of individuals and minorities. "But the majority also has rights and the majority decides," he said at a recent event. "The vast majority wants to guarantee the Jewish nature of our country for generations."
Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Nationalist Party of the House, found a compromise deal on Sunday to abandon the most "split communities" clause that critics have described as racist. Instead, a more vague reference to considering the promotion of Jewish communities as a "national value" was inserted that was more likely to resist a court challenge.
Other billed clauses, such as making Hebrew the only national language and declbadifying Arab status The draft law on nationality is dangerous, it threatens what is left of a so-called democracy, it targets the Arab minority in Israel, "said Ahmad Tibi.
Many Israelis were wondering why it was even necessary to legislate on the obviousness of the country and wondered if it would have any involvement It is a pity that in the second part of 2018, Israel must adopt such a law, "said Uri Dromi, a resident of Jerusalem. "Israel is a Jewish State Period: Israel does not need any law to determine its Jewish character."
But Bennett, who advocated an even stronger version, said that it was important to chart Israel's moral compbad against the future potential. "By the time we define that it is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people only, we establish for the courts that it is a constitutional value," he said. Israel. Army radio Monday. "This has practical implications and I think it's a proper law, even if it's full of compromise."
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