Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People

Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People is an Israeli bill which specifies the nature of the state of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.

Quotes

• The founding fathers of the State of Israel considered the principle of equality and the pursuit of peace as the bedrock of the society they were building. What happened? ... I still believe that despite all the objective and subjective difficulties, the future of Israel and its position in the family of enlightened nations will depend on our ability to realize the promise of the founding fathers as they canonized it in the The Declaration of Independence. Yet, nothing has really changed since 2004. Instead, we now have a law that confirms the Arab population as second-class citizens. It therefore is a very clear form of apartheid. I don’t think the Jewish people survived for 20 centuries, mostly through persecution and enduring endless cruelties, in order to now become the oppressors, inflicting cruelty on others. This new law does exactly that. That is why I am ashamed of being an Israeli today.
  • Daniel Barenboim, Today, I Am Ashamed to Be an Israeli (July 22, 2018), Haaretz.

• Its only purpose is to send a message to the Arab community, the LGBT community and other minorities in Israel, that they are not and never will be equal citizens.
  • Jeremy Ben-Ami, as quoted in Israeli parliament passes bill defining country as the nation-state of the Jewish people (July 18, 2018) by Noga Tarnopolsky, Los Angeles Times.

• This is a law that encourages not only discrimination, but racism as well. ... The result of this legislation will be to perpetuate the inferior status of the Arabs in Israel.
  • Yousef Jabareen, as quoted in Israel 'nation-state' law prompts criticism around the world, including from U.S. Jewish groups (July 20, 2018) by Paul Goldman, Lawahez Jabari and F. Brinley Bruton, NBC News.

• If passed, it will create a dangerous precedent for democracy in Israel, it is a 180-degree turn from Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which enshrines freedom and democracy for all Israelis. This bill would instead upend democratic norms and create an Israel that is unequal. It is a grave threat to Israeli democracy.
  • Richard Jacobs, as quoted in ‘Racist and Discriminatory’: U.S. Jewish Leaders Warn Israel Against Passage of Nation-state Bill (July 15, 2018) by Allison Kaplan Sommer and Bar Peleg, Haaretz.

• The coalition’s insistence on not adopting compromise versions keeping Arabic as an official language prove that the nation-state law wants to base the Jewish character of the State of Israel on deepening the exclusion of the Arab populace.
  • Gilad Kariv, about the Clause 7B, as quoted in New Version of Nation-state Bill: Israel Will Encourage Establishment of Jewish-only Communities (July 15, 2018) by Jonathan Lis, Haaretz.

• The real score we need to settle is with those elected by the public [Knesset members] who know deep inside how much the nation-state bill is going to tarnish the Israeli law book – and remain silent nonetheless.
  • Gilad Kariv, as quoted in ‘Racist and Discriminatory’: U.S. Jewish Leaders Warn Israel Against Passage of Nation-state Bill (July 15, 2018) by Allison Kaplan Sommer and Bar Peleg, Haaretz.

• While the earlier wording pretended to be neutral, stating that separate communities were possible for each group, now the cat is out of the bag and it’s stating explicitly that only Jewish communities will get priority. This is a model of undisguised racism, suited only to corrupt rulers who have lost all shame.
  • Dov Khenin on the Clause 7B, as quoted in New Version of Nation-state Bill: Israel Will Encourage Establishment of Jewish-only Communities (July 15, 2018) by Jonathan Lis, Haaretz.

• In the Israeli democracy, we will continue to protect the rights of both the individual and the group, this is guaranteed. But the majority have rights too, and the majority rules, the vast majority of people want to preserve the Jewish character of our country for generations to come, this combination of individual rights and group rights are the definition of a Jewish and democratic state.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu, as quoted in Defending controversial Jewish state bill, Netanyahu says ‘majority rules’ (12 July 2018) by Tamar Pileggi, The Times of Israel.

• Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people, which honors the individual rights of all its citizens, I repeat this is our state. The Jewish state. Lately, there are people who are trying to destabilize this and therefore destabilize the foundations of our existence and our rights, so today we have made a law in stone. This is our country. This is our language. This is our anthem and this is our flag. Long live the state of Israel.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu, as quoted in Israel's Parliament Has Passed a Controversial Jewish Nation Bill (July 19, 201) by Ilan Ben Zion, The Times.

• You are weak people, only a country that isn’t normal acts this way. No apartheid law will erase the fact that in this homeland there are two nations.
  • Ayman Odeh, as quoted in Opposition warns of ‘apartheid’ as Knesset starts ‘Jewish state bill’ debates (26 July 2017) by Marissa Newman, The Times of Israel.

• This is an evil law, a black flag hovers over it.
  • Ayman Odeh, as quoted in Israel's Parliament Has Passed a Controversial Jewish Nation Bill (July 19, 201) by Ilan Ben Zion, The Times.

• Today, I will have to tell my children, along with all the children of Palestinian Arab towns in the country, that the state has declared that it does not want us here. ... It has passed a law of Jewish supremacy and told us that we will always be second-class citizens.
  • Ayman Odeh, as quoted in Israel 'nation-state' law prompts criticism around the world, including from U.S. Jewish groups (July 20, 2018) by Paul Goldman, Lawahez Jabari and F. Brinley Bruton, NBC News.

• Those who claim this law is racist is like someone who claims Zionism is racism — no less.
  • Amir Ohana, as quoted in Opposition warns of ‘apartheid’ as Knesset starts ‘Jewish state bill’ debates (26 July 2017) by Marissa Newman, The Times of Israel.

• The wording of the current bill and the way it was passed is harmful because it does not include the basic tenets and the basic components of the Jewish state as they have been defined over the past 70 years, a commitment to Israel as a Jewish and a democratic state, based on the values of the Declaration of independence, this commitment, this phrase does not appear in the legislation.
  • Yohanan Plesner, as quoted in Israel 'nation-state' law prompts criticism around the world, including from U.S. Jewish groups (July 20, 2018) by Paul Goldman, Lawahez Jabari and F. Brinley Bruton, NBC News.

• The State of Israel is a national home for the entire Jewish people and it is clear to me that there is no dispute between any party or Zionist movement, while the nation-state law was originally intended to reinforce this principle, the most recent amendments to it are of great concern because they drive a wedge between Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora.
  • Natan Sharansky, in a letter to Amir Ohan about the Clause 7B, as quoted in Sharansky: Jewish state bill will ‘drive a wedge’ between Israel and Diaspora (11 July 2018) by Raoul Wootliff, The Times of Israel.

• This is tribalism at its worst. Beginning with Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the Jewish value of human dignity and the principle of the equality of all people have formed the democratic foundation of the state. This law is completely incompatible with those values. It is a slap in the face to Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel and provides a legal basis to discriminate based on religion, race, and sex. Legislation that identifies first- and second-class citizens has no place in a democracy. Basic laws should define the fundamental values of the state. If racism, sexism, and religious fundamentalism are to be protected in Israel’s basic laws, it should be no surprise when the country embodies those values. This bill and the government that supported it are a danger to Israel’s future.
  • Daniel Sokatch, NIF CEO: Israel’s “Nation-State Bill” Is Tribalism At Its Worst; Completely Incompatible with Human Dignity and Equality (10 July 2018), New Israel Fund.

• The basic law that advanced today is not a basic law on nationality but a basic law of racism. This is a law that was born in sin and advanced through arm-twisting among the extremist and nationalist elements in the coalition.
  • Tamar Zandberg, as quoted in New Version of Nation-state Bill: Israel Will Encourage Establishment of Jewish-only Communities (July 15, 2018) by Jonathan Lis, Haaretz.

• Today, we see what happens when the government doesn't have a solution facing Gaza – all it can offer are racist laws.
  • Tamar Zandberg, as quoted in ‘Racist and Discriminatory’: U.S. Jewish Leaders Warn Israel Against Passage of Nation-state Bill (July 15, 2018) by Allison Kaplan Sommer and Bar Peleg, Haaretz.

See also

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Palestine

External links

• Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (in English), full text on the Israeli Ministry of Justice website.
• Hebrew page on the Israeli Ministry of Justice website.
• Israel’s proposed Nation-State law: FAQ.