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The Knesset pbaded last Wednesday the controversial nation-state bill that allows the state to encourage the establishment of communities solely for Jews, with 62 MPs voting in favor of the legislation and 55 opposing it.
Immediately after the bill was pbaded, Arab lawmakers tore it up in protest and were later expelled from the Knesset plenum.
Speaking a few moments after the adoption of the bill, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "It is a turning point: Long live the State of Israel".
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Netanyahu also stated that "with this law we determined the principle founder of our existence, all its citizens. "
Prime Minister also said that "in the Middle East, only Israel respects [rights] .C is our country, the Jewish state.In recent years, there has been those who tried to undermine this and question the principles of our We did today: it is the country, the language, the anthem and the flag.
נועם ריבקין / דובר
Before the vote, opposition MPs stated that the purpose of the law was to undermine the status of Israeli Arabs. from the Arabic language from one official language to one with a "special status". They also accused that the law would encourage the construction of communities exclusively for Jews.
The opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, also addressed the plenum, saying that "it's a little sad for me that the last speech I will make is against this guy I am really going to hope that we will not find the right balance between a Jewish and democratic state. "
The bill on which the Knesset voted is fundamentally different from the version that the coalition had sought to advance over the past decade. Its main clauses were moderated as a result of pressure within the ranks of the coalition and beyond.
Initially, the bill was intended to significantly limit the discretion of the Supreme Court judges' decisions, requiring them to place the Jewish character of the state above its democratic character in decisions where both s & # 39; clashed. This clause was removed from the bill in May.
The clause allowing the creation of exclusively Jewish communities, to the exclusion of Arab citizens, has also been softened.
The nation-state law establishes as a basic law, or a quasi-constitutional law, a set of values, some of which are already included in existing laws. The law states that Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish nation and that this nation has the singular right to national self-determination in it. The law anchors the flag, the menorah, the Hatikva hymn, the Hebrew calendar, the Independence Day and the Jewish holidays as national symbols.
The law states that "whole and unified Jerusalem" is the capital of the state, which appears today in the Basic Law: Jerusalem. The law of the nation-state also grants the status of official language only in Hebrew.
Another controversial clause states that the state will invest resources to preserve Israel's affiliation to the global Jewish community, but not in Israel. This formulation was demanded by the ultra-Orthodox parties to prevent the state from connecting with the reformist and conservative communities in Israel.
As part of the protest against the law, Peace Now activists waved a black flag on the Knesset's balcony during the debate, until the security guards had them leave the room. The chairman of the joint list, Ayman Odeh, also waved a black flag during the debate against the legislation.
"As [the 1956 mbadacre] Kafr Qbadem was an obviously illegal order, with a black flag on it, a black flag is also hoisted on this bad law," he said.
J Street's president and founder, Jeremy Ben-Ami, severely criticized the nation-state bill and Netanyahu's government: "Born in sin, his only goal is to send a message to the Arab community, the LGBT community and others Two months ago, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, where it was written that the State of Israel " will guarantee the full equality of social and political rights. "all its inhabitants regardless of religion, race or bad.Today, the government of Netanyahu is trying to ignore these words and the values that They represent. "
Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri said this week that the final version would allow the construction of synagogues and ritual baths but not mosques – but would not prevent Arabs from buying houses and living in communities formed by these purchases.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the bill was "very important to guarantee the foundation of our existence, which is Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people" – although critics say that he is especially keen on before the next Knesset election, scheduled for next November.
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