Israeli parliament proclaimed Israel as nation of Jews stirred a controversy

News24xx.com - The Israeli parliament on Thursday adopted a law defining the state of Israel as "a nation of Jews". Especially Arab-Israel denounced the Act as discrimination. The law passed on Thursday, July 19th 2018 calls Israel "the historical homeland of the Jews" and says the Jews have the right to called that.

The act previously contains a highly controversial clause that calls Israel support "community building only for Jews" and invites widespread criticism, including from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. After the draft has been amended, the current law is still condemned as a potential discrimination.

But the Israeli government welcomed the new law as a tool of unity. "This is a defining moment in the history of the state of Israel, which affirms our language status, our national anthem and our flag" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after a vote in parliament. The Act is mainly supported by right-wing factions.

Arab and Palestinian minority lawmakers called the new law "racist" and said the parliament had legalized "apartheid". The parliament approved law with 62 votes agreed and 55 votes disagreed, mentioning the national language of Hebrew as the language of the country and defining the "establishment of the Jewish community" as a national interest.

The Arabic language, previously regarded as the official language, now only gets a special status. A number of opposition politicians have denounced the new law. The leader of the Arab Joint List of Alliance, Ayman Odeh called it "democratic death".

After the passage of the law, Arab lawmakers protested by tearing up a copy of the new law in the Israeli parliament building, Knesset. About 17.5 percent of Israel's citizen, which is more than eight million people are Arab descent. They have long complained of this discrimination.

 

 

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