Israel’s Cabinet is likely to approve on Sunday two bills embedding the definition of a “Jewish State” in the country’s Basic Laws.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a version of the legislation in May, saying the State lacked “adequate expression” of Israel’s “existence as the nation-state of the Jewish people”.
Members of the Knesset offered even more assertive measures. Israeli media report that these have been amended to square with Netanyahu’s proposal, with Israel defined as a “Jewish and democratic state, which upholds the rights of all its citizens under law”.
The Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, has repeatedly said the Government should not support the legislation: “[There are] significant changes in the founding principles of constitutional law as anchored in the Declaration of Independence and in the basic laws of the Knesset, which can flatten the democratic character of the state.”
Claims are circulating that Netanyahu has framed the bills to be clear that Israel is not obligated to extend national rights to its minorities; however, the Justice Department reassured, “A correct legal reading of the wording shows that equality is included among the principles that form the basis [of the proposed legislation].”
To move to a decision today, Netanyahu overruled the objections of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.
