A demand by the chareidim for the addition of a clause in the Nationality Law led Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to threaten to advance the elections, and the chareidim capitulated, backing down on their demands, Yaki Admaker of Walla News reported.
According to the report, the chareidim demanded that a new section be added to the Nationality Law, which would not grant the law supreme status as a Basic Law, in a manner that could be disqualified as other laws.
The goal of the “blocking clause,” according to a coalition official, was to prevent the law from being able to disqualify, through its legal interpretation, other laws that were approved or will be approved.
According to the report in Walla, the chareidim passed along their wording of the bill to Minister (Likud) Yariv Levin but did not set an ultimatum. The Likud feared that the new demand would delay the passage of the law, which will not be approved by the end of the Knesset’s summer session.
PM Netanyahu expressed his opposition to the proposed clause, and even threatened to go to the polls, and representatives of Shas and Yahadut HaTorah were forced to fold and give up their demand.
The concern of the chareidi Knesset members was that the High Court of Justice would use the law on material issues such as the Kosel, conversion, and other issues. MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Yisrael Eichler defined the law as a “gift to the Reformers.”
MK (Bayit Yehudi) Betzalel Smotrich added that both Shas and Yahadut Hatorah feel the law is a bad one, but “the Prime Minister told them that without the Nationality Law he is heading to early elections and they don’t want elections. Therefore, they got in line and dropped their demands without even getting [their demands regarding] the draft law,” Smotrich explained.
The Nationality Law is defined as a Basic Law and therefore requires the approval of at least 61 Knesset members. Discussion were renewed in the joint committee of the Nationality Law on Monday, headed by MK (Likud) Amir Ochana, to approve the law before the second and third readings in Knesset.
On Sunday, 3 Menachem Av, an agreement was reached between PM Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi party chairman Minister Naftali Bennet on a change in the wording of the clause, allowing for the establishment of Jewish-only settlements, which states: “The State views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
This Law potentially can very positive.However it needs to be taken apart and weighed and clearly elaborated piece by piece. Else it could end up as the Basic Law of 1992 which was turned by the Bagat”z into the opposite
of what it was passed for ,and a disaster
Before the The Nationality Law should be approved ,First it should be decided who is covered by it .In other words who is of the Jewish Nationality
Mi Yehudi?
And more Importantly who is to stripped of it i.e. Converts to other religions,certain egregious heinous behaviors,etc.
Aha.. ..
“Honorable MKs, I would like to bring to you the inherent trap contained in this dangerous law,” he said.
“The very existence of a Basic Law that transfers religious and state struggles from the Knesset to the High Court of Justice constitutes a terrible danger to the chareidi tzibur,” .
“Those who vote in favor of the law lend their hand to the Law of Human Dignity & Liberty 2, will bear responsibility for the results for decades, and we must remember that the chareidi tzibur has representation in the Knesset and in the municipalities, but doesn’t have representation in the judicial system which will deal with the interpretation of the High Court” he said.
At the end of the letter, Eichler asks his colleagues: “I ask you to consult the Gedolim before voting on the law and not take upon yourselves the historical responsibility for the hidden obstacles in the Nationality Law.”
Meanwhile, MK Uri Maklev, a member of the National Law Committee, demanded the inclusion of secondary legislation in Section 10 of the law, which deals with the Shabbos, according to which Shabbos will not be tolerated.”
For now, it appears the chareidi parties are attempting to walk between the raindrops regarding the vote on the Nationality Bill. One the one hand, there is pressure from Likud and the party leader, PM Netanyahu, to support the bill. On the other hands, the chareidi parties are interested in continuing their working relationship with the Arab parties.
At present, chareidi lawmakers are requested not to oppose the bill, which was amended to remove objectionable portions. The Degel Hatorah magazine hints that chareidi representatives are opposed to the essence of the law, but are also cognizant that at present, changes were made to remove the most problematic sections.
Among other things, Section 6 of the draft law, which MK Uri Maklev quotes it as saying, “the state will act in the Diaspora to preserve the connection between the state and the people,” a formulation that parallels the recognition of the Reformists, and argues that the document presented by the Reformists has no meaning and is a declarative process only.
This law stinks
Anything that would actually implement Jewish Nationality has been removed, like the right of Jews to determine who lives in their communities.
All the vague wordings that will give the secular state power over private and religious matters are all that remain.
Just look who brought up this bill.
It was propsed by MK Avi Dichter, a former ISA Director.
This man has also widened the scope of surveillence in Israel.
This guy is a lot smarter than Naftali Bennet and other nationalists who, originally got tricked into thinking this may be a good idea.
The PM is pushing it, while at the same time threatening the charedim, if they don’t support this.
One would think that such an important Basic Law should be granted very ample time to go over all the ramifications of it.
That makes one very wary about it’s actual purpose and why it’s being pushed so hard.
Be”H, something will happen to prevent it’s passage or, at least, to prevent whatever nefarious plans they have for it.