Reversing support, Bennett says nation-state law must be ‘remedied’

IT WON’T BE EASY.

After Druze leaders decry nation-state law as an “extreme act of discrimination” against Israel’s minorities, Education Minister Naftali Bennett acknowledges legislation process was “damaging” • Finance minister: Nation-state law was enacted hastily.

By Ariel Kahana and Israel Hayom Staff

In a surprise move Wednesday, Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett called for amendments to the recently adopted nation-state law Wednesday, a law that he supported during the legislation process.

Kulanu leader Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said Thursday that “we were reckless. The nation-state law was enacted hastily.”

Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, a coalition flagship initiative, was enacted last week after months of heated debates between coalition partners. From the time of its introduction, Bennett was one of the bill’s most vocal supporters.

Though largely symbolic, the contentious legislation, which states that ”Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it,” has been lambasted by Arab lawmakers as “racist” and “verging on apartheid” as it discriminates against Israel’s non-Jewish citizens. Currently, 20% of Israel’s population is Arab.

On Sunday, Israeli Druze leaders, including three Knesset members, petitioned the High Court of Justice against the law, saying it was an “extreme act of discrimination” against the country’s minorities.

In a series of tweets Wednesday, Bennett acknowledged the “damage” the law caused to the Druze community in Israel.

”After speaking with many of our Druze brothers, it has become clear that the manner in which the nation-state law was enacted was particularly damaging  to them and to anyone who has tied their fate to that of the Jewish state. This, of course, was not the government’s intention,” he wrote.

”Israel’s Druze citizens are our brothers. They stand with us, shoulder to shoulder, on the battlefield, and they have struck a covenant with us – a covenant of life. The government has a responsibility to find a way to heal the wounds,” Bennett added.

A spokesperson for Bennett explained Wednesday that Habayit Hayehudi’s leader had received dozens of calls from Druze leaders, who made it clear that the law was deeply offensive to Israel’s minorities in general and particularly to their community.

The Druze are a unique religious and ethnic minority among Israeli Arabs. Most Druze men serve in the Israel Defense Forces and members of the community have served and currently serve in top positions in Israeli politics and public service.

Later on Wednesday, Bennett defended his new position, tweeting that while the nation-state law was ”necessary” and “just,” there was “a specific mistake regarding our Druze brothers that needs to be remedied.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he plans to meet with Druze leaders next week to hear their grievances and allay their concerns.

However, an official at the Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu was not considering amending the law.

Druze MK Saleh Saad (Zionist Union) said Netanyahu’s move was grossly lacking.

“Bibi’s media spins no longer fool us,” he said. “We will not remain silent and we will not yield until the nation-state law ends up in the dustbin of history, where it belongs.”

July 26, 2018 | 3 Comments »
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  1. We have not yet been relieved of the yoke that connects us to the British Mandate Era. All the key government, judicial, military, financial, industrial bureaucracies adhere to policies crafted during the time when the Shotrim Musafim were formed. Zionism was castrated when Ben Gurion’s appeasement cadres beat up the Jabotinsky crowd and took over the Jewish Agency. Bennett has tasted a little bit of government power and won’t rock the boat just so that he can be true to his campaign promises. A new religion is being formed right in front of our eyes.

  2. National Law: Lessons Learned From Christian Lebanon (Shadi Khalloul) translated by Sherrie Oz into English (originally in Hebrew in Israel HaYom)

    Published July 26, 2018 · Updated July 26, 2018

    The modern State of Lebanon was established by Maronite Christians, as a shelter for them and other persecuted Christian communities in the Middle East. The goal of the founders of the State of Lebanon, experienced with persecution and genocide, was to protect and cultivate, in their own state, their language, Aramaic, and their unique Phoenician-Aramaic culture. The Muslim population of Lebanon was not a partner to this national vision, and due to differences of opinion, the Maronites were compelled to abandon their national ambitions. With no other choice, they agreed to the establishment of a state of all its citizens that, to their chagrin, joined the Arab League.

    Unfortunately, not only did this solution not bring peace and calm, but it created tensions among the major national and ethnic groups within Lebanon until the situation finally deteriorated into bloody war. The Muslims did not at all see themselves as part of an independent Lebanese country and instead they nurtured their dream of uniting with their brothers while cooperating with the Arabs in the surrounding region.

    These processes brought about increased extremism in the Muslim Arab population in Lebanon, weakening state institutions and causing many Christians to emigrate from the land of their forefathers in which they had thrived for generations. Furthermore, the religious-national tensions in Lebanon created discord among the Christian communities, themselves, that until the 1950s had comprised the majority of the population and today — after innumerous wars and tragedies – they have become a persecuted minority in their own country: from 80% in the 1930s Christians now make up only 35% of the contemporary Lebanese population.

    What is the lesson to be learned from Lebanese history with respect to the National Law in Israel? As an Israeli Maronite Aramaic Christian, belonging to the minority and enjoying freedom in Israel, I actually understand the importance of this Law. Yes, our forefathers supported, for ideological reasons, the realization of the Jewish nation in the Land of Israel. But my support of the National Law arises as well from the bitter Lebanese experience: I believe that Jewish Nationalism declared by Israeli law in fact guarantees that she will continue to be a democracy, and it also promises me that I will remain secure as a member of a religious minority.

    Experience teaches us that the Jewish majority in Israel appreciates democracy and is faithful to its principles. A state of all its citizens (meaning: a state of all its national groups), on the other hand, is liable to duplicate the Lebanese tragedy here in Israel. Recent history proves that there is good reason to suspect that without the fortification in law of Jewish nationality, national and religious tensions would grow and intensify. Supported by elements outside the country, the Arab Muslims of Israel would seek to join with their Palestinian brothers, and after that to unite with the larger Arab world around us.

    It must be emphasized that the Jewish state is based upon the Jews as a People and not on religious law. Therefore, Israel is very different from religious states such as the Islamic Republics that are governed according to Sharia Law.

    continue at https://www.israeldiaries.com/national-law-lessons-learned-from-christian-lebanon-shadi-khalloul/.

  3. Dear unc sam (trump) i screwed up again. Would you and the 3 (see no evil,hear no evil,speak no evil) appointed overseers allow me to correct my foolhardy errors and make changes to the non nation non state law and to possibly include wording “the state of ISRAEL formerly known as palestine” this would remove the name from the terrorists as it would still belong to ISRAEL, so every time the word is/was used it refers to ISRAEL.