New Israeli nationality law defies Jewish values: it will deepen divides and cripple democracy

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the legislation a “historic moment in the history of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel”. Photo: AP

Published: 11:02pm, 3 Aug 2018Updated: 11:01pm, 3 Aug 2018

On July 19, the Israeli Knesset passed a new “basic law” which in the main enshrines “Israel [as] the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established”. It also says “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people … [and] Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.”

On the surface, there is not much that is new in this law. Israel has been practising its provisions for years. Nevertheless, the law betrays Israel’s foundational document, its declaration of independence. It will severely cripple Israel’s democracy, and the argument that the new law does not tamper with Israel’s democracy and equality among all of its citizens – regardless of their cultural, racial or religious orientation – is fake, misleading and ultimately self-defeating.

Israelis hold placards reading “This house belongs to all of us” during a protest against the controversial “nationality bill”, in Tel Aviv on July 14. Photo: EPA

The new law limits immigration to Israel to Jews only, indirectly relegates the Israeli Arabs to second-class citizens, and allows discrimination against non-Jews in allocating resources for housing and segregated communities. It will serve as a recipe for the continuing conflict with the Palestinians at large while further diminishing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Watch: Israel passes controversial “Jewish nation state” law

Furthermore, this law officially embraces revisionist Zionism that focuses exclusively on the right of the Jews to the land of Palestine with a Jewish state, and discards mainstream Israeli Jews who are appalled by the scenes of Palestinian oppression and gross human rights violation.