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Arabs Furious Over Bill That Would Define Israel As Jewish Nation-State

REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

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Joshua Gill Religion Reporter
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Arabs and Jews are protesting a bill currently before the Israeli Parliament that would define Israel as a Jewish nation-state, claiming it undermines democracy.

The Israeli Parliament discussed the final draft of the bill Monday, which government officials claim will legally acknowledge Israel’s true character as a Jewish state. Arabs and some Israeli Jews oppose the bill, however, on the grounds that it marginalizes Israel’s Arab minority and undermines the country’s democratic values. (RELATED: Israel Trades Fire With Palestinian Militants As Gaza Protests Rage On)

“The main goal is for the ‘Jewish’ element to take precedence over the ‘democratic’ element, to change the balance,” said Amir Fuchs, head of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Defending Democratic Values, according to the Associated Press. “It’s part of a national and nationalistic process.”

Fuchs asserted the bill would not only marginalize minorities in Israel, but would also harm Israel’s relations with the Jewish diaspora and would also limit the power of Israeli courts.

Others criticized particular elements of the bill that would make Hebrew Israel’s official language and that promoted the formation of Jewish-only communities.

“The nationality bill is dangerous. It is threatening what remains of a so-called democracy. It is targeting the Arab minority in Israel,” said Ahmad Tibi, an Arab lawmaker, according to AP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the bill, saying the individual liberties of all Israelis would be preserved, but that the majority of Israelis support the prospect of a law acknowledging Israel as a Jewish state.

“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.”

Naftali Bennett, head of the nationalist Jewish Home party, also defended the bill, despite having made compromises to take out some of the bill’s more contentious passages.

“The moment we define that it is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people only, we establish for the courts that this is a constitutional value,” Bennett said, according to AP. “It has practical implications and I think it is a proper law, even if it is full of compromises.”

The Israeli parliament will vote on the bill which, if it passes, will most likely face a challenge from Israel’s Supreme Court.

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