ADDS REMARKS FROM PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s Knesset, or parliament, on Tuesday approved a preliminary reading of a controversial bill that considers Israel “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.
Proposed by the right-wing Likud party, the “Jewish nation” bill was passed in the first reading by 64-50 votes.
The bill must be approved in the second and third readings before it becomes law.
The draft considers Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Hebrew as the official language.
It also states that the justice system would prefer Israel’s Jewish character to its democratic one in cases where the two are at odds.
Knesset member Avi Dichter, one of the sponsors of the bill, said the draft would, for the first time, enshrine Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people”.
The bill has drawn a storm of criticism from Arab Knesset members, who described the bill as “racist”.
“The draft law states that there are two types of citizens: Jewish people with full rights and another group which is allowed to stay but without rights, ” Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said.
“If it is not racism, I do not know what racism is, ” he added.
Knesset member Haneen Zoabi said the bill “proves that the Knesset itself recognizes that there is no realistic possibility for a Jewish and democratic state at the same time “.
“This country has to choose, and for the past 70 years it has chosen to be Jewish rather than democratic, ” Zoabi said in a statement.
“Israel cannot speak on behalf of the Jews of the world, nor in the name of the people of this country,” she said. “Israel can only speak in the name of Zionism and its colonial orientation and racist values.”
In reaction to the move, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the draft law supports the “racist regime” and is contradictory to “international law and human principles “.
The ministry stressed in a written statement that the draft law “strengthened the racist and discriminatory regime and marginalized the Palestinians and Arabs living in Israel as well as violating international laws and human principles “.
The statement noted the bill will negatively affect all aspects of Palestinians’ lives, adding the bill did not define Israel's borders and was open-ended in accordance with the policy of expanding settlements.
Aside from Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories, there are roughly 1.4 million Arab citizens of Israel.
