The Israeli Cabinet has approved an amendment to a citizenship law that requires new citizens to declare their loyalty to a “Jewish and democratic state,” the prime minister’s office said Sunday.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed vote, saying 22 ministers voted for the change and eight voted against it.
Now that the proposal has passed the Cabinet, it will be taken up by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, for passage into law.
Before his government’s weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu made a forceful plea Sunday for changing the nation’s Citizenship Law. He challenged criticism that the revision is undemocratic and could harm relations with the minority Arab population.
Netanyahu cited the nation’s Declaration of Independence, which says Israel is both the “national state of the Jewish people” and a democratic state “in which all its citizens — Jewish and non-Jewish — enjoy fully equal rights.”
“Democracy is the soul of Israel and we cannot do without it,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his media adviser.
He noted that Israel was the only democracy in the Middle East, and that “there is no other Jewish state in the world.”
“The combination of these two lofty values expresses the foundation of our national life and anyone who would like to join us needs to recognize this,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu announced last week he would push now for adding language to Israel’s citizenship and entry law that would declare a new citizen’s allegiance to “a Jewish and democratic state.”
After the prime minister announced the push, but before Sunday’s Cabinet vote, Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi said that Israel is “discriminative in its policies and laws against all who are not Zionists.” Zoabi went on to say the law “not only discriminates between Jews and non Jews, it also discriminates between Zionist Jews and non Zionists Jews.”
Another Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi, from the Ra’am-Ta’al party, criticized the move as well, saying that “the values of Jewish and Democratic cannot be in the same definition because democracy is the equality of all the citizens.”
“But an ethnic definition as Jewish is the preference of the Jew over that of the Arab and therefore it fixates an inferior status to 20 percent of the population,” Tibi said.
Have you checked out YWN Radio yet? Click HERE to listen!
(Read More: CNN)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
7 Responses
Most secular Israelis, and that includes most judges of the Israeli Supreme Court, believe the “democratic” (contrary to the American definition, meaning majority rule by the people), is a guarantee of secularism (derived from the European concept that “Freedom FROM religion” is a basic human right). Such a law will all the Israelis to solve their most serious pending demographic challenge – the prospect of a Shomer Shabbos (and perhaps Hareidi) majority in the foreseeable future. People with undemocratic ideals (such as being anti-gay, or not accepting the idea of goyim having an equal right to Eretz Yisrael) will be stripped of their civil rights. Imagine if the Jews in Gaza could not only have had their property seized, but could then have their citizenship cancelled for not being “democratic”, and then deported.
Frum Jews should oppose this proposal, which while seemingly aimed at the Arabs, is actually aimed at us.
Akuperma, this is for non jews. This has nothing about freedom from religion. In fact, this is all about religion. Can’t you ever give these people a chance? Because of people like you these people will NEVER return to Torah. I am chareidi and don’t feel that my civil rights will be stripped in any way. It is not in any way aimed at frum jews. Stop the paranoia. They specifically made the law for non jews, knowing that they would have an issue with Charedim. Don’t you read ?
akuperma – although you claim to be sticking up for the chareidim, you actually make them and yourself look very bad by once again putting “Torah Yidden” and the Arabs in the same boat (this is not the first time in history this has happened, but that’s whole other can of worms 🙂 ).
I don’t think that this is the message you want to convey to the more worldly members of the Torah community, but based on your other comments, I could be wrong.
This is an extremely good idea what netanyahu came up with. They live in the Jewish State and they still deny our extistence and the existence of a jewish state. They live in our Medina and they try to kill us. Of course they will complain.We are to good to them. He should tie the belt even more.
He should do this not only to the new Olim but to each one living here even if they live here already 40 years.
akuperma: If the report was accurate you might have been right but (at least according to how it’s reported in Israel) the amendment to the law requires only that non-Jews seeking citizenship in Israel be required to swear allegiance to a “democratic Jewish state”.
I say you might have been right because if I’m not mistaken the religious ministers were a part of this vote and voted in favor so unless they don’t listen to their respected rabbis anymore several rabbis have ruled in favor.
Those that voted against the proposal are those that you are accusing of plotting against the hareidim.
Unless the new law provides that the Israeli Supreme Court, (which is ultra-secular, viciously anti-Jewish, and appoints its own replacements), has nothing to do with interpretation of the law – the Israeli Supreme Court will interpret the law in a way that those whom they perceive as enemies (Hareidim, Religious zionists, etc.) will be affected. Even if this is passed as a Basic Law (equivalent to a constitutional amendment in the US), as long as the Israeli Supreme Court continues in its current form, the law’s primary impact will be to be a weapon against those who don’t accept the secular nature of the state.
The fact that some frum politicians are letting themselves be bamboozled is a different issue, though some would argue the frum community might be in need of
cleverer politicians.