The Diaspora Clause in the Nation-State Bill Called "Condescending"



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Jerry Silverman, President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, described the Diaspora Clause as "definitely condescending" for the global Jewish community, claiming that the previous version of the D & D was a clause on exclusive religious communities Speaking to the Jerusalem Post on Monday, Silverman said that if the controversial clause of the diaspora would not limit the government's ability to educate Israeli citizens about the Jewish world abroad, it could have an impact on the promotion of pluralism in Israel.

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The clause currently says that: "The state will act in the diaspora to maintain the connection between the state and the Jewish people", while the original version has omitted the word "Diaspora" and stated that the link would be maintained among "the Jewish people wherever they are."

The clause was approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Monday and is now certain to be part of the law if it is approved in its final readings

The Unified Judaism Party of the Torah declared that He insisted on changing the clause to thwart the progress of religious pluralism and egalitarian prayer at the Wailing Wall.

Several leaders of the Diaspora organizations and progressive Jewish denominations because the clause only requires Israel to improve relations between Israel and the diaspora in the diaspora and not in Israel, it was arrogant and paternalistic towards the Jews of the diaspora.

He met with officials from the Prime Minister's Office to try to convince them to change the clause, but he finally failed.

"The clause in its current language definitely seems condescending," Silverman told the Post. There is a difference in speaking only of the unity of the Jewish people in the diaspora, but not everywhere. "

He described the clause as" a disappointment "and said that he had spoken to" a number of Jewish leaders from various Jewish organizations throughout America who were extremely disturbed by the wording of the nation-state bill "concerning the diaspora clause, as well as the clause that originally allowed exclusively Jewish communities and the one that changed the status of the Arabic language. [19659002] Diaspora leaders fear that if certain issues regarding religious pluralism end up in the High Court of Justice, as is often the case, the clause of the diaspora of the nation The bill could be used to hinder the arguments in favor of pluralism.

He however acknowledged that it was not clear if this would indeed be the case and that we did not know what would be the impact of the clause

. Silverman said, "That the officials that he met had made" a very sincere effort to listen to our concerns at all levels ", and that he had enjoyed that attempt.

He also refused to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a lack of leadership on the bill, saying that he could not put himself in the Prime Minister's shoes and that he had to weigh many different concerns about such a bill.

Likud officials downplayed the impact of the clause. as "simple semantics that would have no impact."

With respect to the exclusive community clause based on religion or ethnicity, Silverman said that the mere fact that such terms had been included in the original reading bill, had been prejudicial to the position of Israel.

The original version of the clause would have allowed communities to be limited to people of their own religion or ethnicity. It was intended to thwart a Supreme Court ruling that banned Jewish communities from banning Arabs but allowed minorities to ban Jews, but was amended to say that "the state sees the national value in the development of Jewish colonization. " The version "provoked an outcry from the entire diaspora" and the original language had created comparisons with the United States in the 1940s and 1950s "when Jews were not allowed in some neighborhoods and the Jews in some organizations. "

The JFNA leader said that even though the clause had been changed, it gave fuel to the [.]" When we try to really support Israel, fight the BDS and … educate young adults and connect them to Israel, these things are barriers and really create challenges for us, "said Silverman.

He however stated that he had "applauded the Knesset process" by changing the clause, but that MPs and government officials "must really think about the intentional and unintended consequences of a bill that could potentially affect Israel's position in the world and in the diaspora. "

Silverman says that he's not "crazy" about the new version of the clause, but at a Monday meeting of the Likud faction, Netanyahu called the bill " legislation of unprecedented importance. "

"I hope we will adopt this bill in the days to come in order to guarantee the foundation of our existence, which is: Israel being the nation-state of the Jewish people," Netanyahu said. .

But the Zionist Syndicate MK Nachman Shai, who wrote a book on Israel's public diplomacy, said to "The clause calling for Judaising Galilee seems even worse in English than in Hebrew and would cause great damage to Israel, "he said.

Ittee will hold marathon sessions to vote on the proposed revisions to the bill on Tuesday, in order to prepare it for its final readings at the Knesset plenary as early as Wednesday night.

"I'm waiting for it to be no problem to pbad the bill," coalition president David Amsalem told reporters in the Knesset.

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