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Israeli president slams bill that could lead to Jewish-only communities JERUSALEM, July 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Israel’s president raised alarm Tuesday
over a proposed law seen as opening the door to the establishment of Jewish-
only communities in the country.
Reuven Rivlin’s comments marked a rare intervention in politics by the
country’s president, whose role is mainly symbolic.
He voiced his concerns in an open letter, pointing to a clause in
proposed legislation defining Israel as the “national home of the Jewish
people”.
The so-called nation-state law, which the government hopes to have
approved by the end of the month, could become part of the country’s basic
laws which serve as a de facto constitution.
The clause Rivlin criticised would allow the state to “authorise a
community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to
maintain the exclusive character of that community.”
That was seen as allowing towns to exclude Arab citizens, who account for
some 17.5 percent of Israel’s population, or even other Jewish communities.
Rivlin said that the legislation “could harm the Jewish people worldwide
and in Israel, and could even be used as a weapon by our enemies.”
“Do we want to support the discrimination and exclusion of men and women
based on their ethnic origin?” he wrote.
He said the bill could allow the establishment of towns that would, for
example, exclude Jews of Middle Eastern origin, ultra-Orthodox Jews or
homosexuals.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has also said he is opposed to the
law in its current form.
Avi Dichter, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud
party and the bill’s sponsor, said the clause was aimed at “allowing a
Zionist population to live without having a population at its side that is
not ready to defend the country’s borders.”
Israeli Arabs largely support the Palestinian cause, and right-wing Jews
often accuse them of disloyalty.
Netanyahu supports the bill but has not commented on the clause in
question. The government is hoping to win approval for the bill during the
current parliamentary session, which finishes at the end of July.
Negotiations on potential amendments are ongoing.
A separate part of the legislation that would designate Hebrew as
Israel’s only official language, granting only “special status” to Arabic,
has also raised concerns.
Dichter says the law aims to defend Israel’s “status as a Jewish and
democratic state.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1650 hrs