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The Nation-State Bill Pushes Israel Towards Fascism
Israel is about to adopt one of the most controversial laws in its history; perhaps even more contentious than its declaration of independence 70 years ago, which was made to the detriment of the Palestinians. The Israeli Knesset has adopted the first reading of a bill that, when pbaded, will set Israel aside as a state exclusively reserved for Jews – an ultranationalist entity that discriminates against its non-citizens. -juifs.
The "nation-state" bill has been in progress for years; the invention of the far right of Israel. This legislation is so dangerous that even Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is against it; Raz Nizri, the Deputy Attorney General of Israel, supported Rivlin, saying the bill "would achieve nothing by only causing damage to Israel both as a Jew and as a Jew." and a democratic state. "
Three basic building blocks of the nation-state bill are behind increasing opposition.The bill, which will have constitutional status, will make it almost impossible for the governments to repeal. future, will allow exclusively Jewish communities, remove Arabic as the official language of the state and allow judges to rely on Jewish law as a precedent when there is no Knesset Lawyer Eyal Yinon wrote a letter to the chairman of the special committee to promote the nation-state bill saying that "we have found no reason to believe that we are in any of the other countries. No Equivalence in any Constitution in the World "to the Clause Suggested in the Bill"
Defining Israel as a Jewish State has been one of the prime priorities of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for years; form the most far-right government of the history According to Haaretz, the legislation would give priority to Jewish values rather than to democratic values. One clause in particular would allow the establishment of communities
separated by religion or nationality. The Office of the Attorney General of Israel has stated that the clause "is blatant discrimination" and that it means that residents of these communities have the right to hang a sign saying, "No entry to non-Jews. "
the borders and, if its annexation enters into force, the new Israel will appear as the only apartheid state of the world
Osama Al Sharif
Basically, this clause will target the larger minority groups of 39, Israel, the Arabs, who constitute 20 percent of the population, as well as other minorities such as Druze, Armenians, Circbadians and Assyrians, among others. Arab legislators in the Knesset are fighting to introduce their own bill; the one who defines Israel as a state for all its citizens. Until now, their efforts have been blocked.
Despite national and international criticism of the nation-state bill, Netanyahu is lobbying for the Knesset to adopt it before the summer holidays. If pbaded, the bill would complicate Israel's international position and would certainly erode its identity as a democratic state and oasis of democracy. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that for negotiations to resume with the Palestinians, they must also recognize Israel as a Jewish state. President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the request, while critics warned that succumbing to Netanyahu would endanger the plight of 1.5 million Palestinians living in Israel.
The date of the controversial bill is important. This comes at a time when Israel has renounced all its commitments under the Oslo Accords. The extremist ministers of the Netanyahu government reject the two-state solution, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and want Israel to annex most of the West Bank, while granting limited autonomy to Palestinian towns and villages. Israel has never defined its definitive borders and, if its annexation enters into force, the new Israel will appear as the only apartheid state in the world.
Netanyahu enjoying the unconditional support of the Trump administration, he does not seem to care about the repercussions of pbading the bill as law. Critics have pointed out that the bill has already affected the links between Israel and the so-called Jewish diaspora, especially in the West, most of whom are self-proclaimed liberals. The outgoing president of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky, said last week that, while agreeing with the general feeling of the bill, its details will widen the gap between American Jews – whose majority are non-Orthodox – and Israel
. The administration had criticized Netanyahu's insistence on recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. Before leaving office in 2016, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israel had to choose; whether Jewish or democratic, it can not be both.
The current debate in Israel, which is unlikely to change much in the bill, exposes the gradual departure of Israel in the last decades from the original Zionist dream envisioned by its foundation. fathers as a democratic, secular, socialist and multiethnic society in an ultranationalist and fundamentalist entity that is close to fascism. In a letter to the Knesset, Rivlin called on lawmakers to "look at Israeli society and ask: In the name of the Zionist vision, are we ready to support the discrimination and exclusion of men and women according to their ethnic origin? But few are willing to answer his question.
- Osama Al Sharif is a political journalist and commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @ plato010
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are theirs and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arab News
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