Druzi IDF officers protest against the law on nationality

The law on nationality adopted in a law last Thursday states that only Jews have the right to have themselves in the country.

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Imad Fares

In discussions with several Druze reserve officers, many of them expressed their anger at being excluded from Israeli society after they served and still serve the country.

Addressing Ynet, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Imad Fares said, "The feeling is that it was decided to bury us outside the cemetery," "The feeling that we are not equal was always a little present in the street, it's sad because we always have I thought that someday we would be (treated as) equal, but now when it is enshrined in the law (this thought) seems further than even. "

" I do not understand why this law is necessary. that the fact that the country is Jewish, this law only creates second-clbad citizens, "he lamented.

Fares' son serves as an IDF officer and his son is expected to join the army soon.

"Going to the army is our duty as citizens of this country, but I expect the county to treat me as I treat it," Fares adds.

"The loyalty of the Druze community to this country is deeper and more serious than any political statement: why does it hurt us every time to check our loyalty?" the Brig. Gen. it's asked.

"This law creates discomfort in the Druze community, lawmakers would have been smarter if they had written it according to the Declaration of Independence, which mentions a Jewish country that allows minorities to coexist there, "he said. 19659003]

The law legally establishes the democratic character of Israel, its state symbols, Jerusalem as the capital, Hebrew as the official language and the right of return for the Jewish community of the Diaspora .

One of the controversial main controversial points of the law was Article 7 which defined the development of the Jewish colony as a national value and allowed to exclude populations from new communities.

However, after a warning from the Knesset's legal adviser, the article was changed. The law in its new version states that Israel "considers the development of the Jewish colony as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment."

The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, reducing it to a "special status" that allows its continued use within Israeli institutions.