Bayit Yehudi on Monday, 26 Tammuz, threatened to prevent the Nationality Law from advancing, the bill that defines the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish People. This is because Bayit Yehudi has learned Likud wishes to remove clauses in the bill that relate to the significance of halacha alongside state law.

The bill also specifies Hebrew is the official language, the Jewish calendar is the official calendar of the state, and Jerusalem is the nation’s capital.

The head of the committee addressing the bill, Bayit Yehudi MK Nissim Slomiansky, exclaimed there is no way his party would support a bill that ignores the official role of halacha in the nation.

Interestingly, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is also opposed to the law, albeit for different reasons. His objections surround a clause in the bill permitting yishuvim and moshavim to block the entry of non-Jews.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)