A storm broke out Wednesday morning in the Knesset plenum during a debate on the Nationality Law. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu canceled his arrival minutes before the hearing “because of urgent security consultation.”

During the discussion, which reached high tones and even shouts, six Knesset members were thrown out by the committee’s chairman, MK Amir Ochana. MK Ahmad Tibi was the first to leave the debate after claiming that the law was racist. Later MKs Ilan Gilon and Michal Rozin were forced to leave the discussion after they broke into the words of Minister Yariv Levin.

The bill, initiated by MK Avi Dichter and other MKs, includes Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on National Law Levin, Opposition Chairman Yitzhak Herzog and others.

At the start of his address, Ochana spoke of the importance of the law and said that “whoever says that this law is racism, says Zionism is racism, we do not legislate any law here, we define that entity which is called the State of Israel for future generations.

Levin spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was absent from the discussion: “Since the enactment of the Basic Law: Human Rights, Freedom and Freedom of Occupation Law, which emphasized the democratic character of the State of Israel, a situation of imbalance has arisen when the legislator is silent regarding the Jewish identity of the State of Israel”.

Minister Shaked said “This law is historic, and everyone sitting here cast his content into law, so it is very important to do serious work here. All the word and every comma are important, it will remain with us forever and ever. ”

Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog attacked Ochana and said: “You are playing with fire, the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, a point that is clearly written in the Declaration of Independence – a state with a Jewish majority and an Arab minority. There is the greatest insecurity regarding the future of the State of Israel, because you do not want to separate from the Palestinians, and the Declaration of Independence calls for equality, where is it in the law, you put a strange fire that will tear the country apart? ”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)