On the surface, a bill under consideration in the Knesset that would legally affirm Israel’s status as the “nation state” for the Jewish people makes sense. After all, since its founding Israel has been, and always will be, the homeland of the Jews.
But in its current form, the proposed law would do more harm than good.
Though the upending of the Israeli Cabinet this week, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for early elections, had no single precipitating cause, the nation-state bill played a divisive role.
Ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, fired by Netanyahu earlier this week, oppose the bill, already passed by the Cabinet. So does Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as well as prominent American Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the umbrella groups of the Reform and Conservative movements.
The Zionist Organization of America appears to be the sole Jewish voice endorsing it, at least so far. The Orthodox Union and the Jewish Federations of North America have not declared either way.
Why would so many ardent supporters of Israel oppose this confirmation of its Jewish character? Because, they say, it downplays Israel’s commitment to democracy and minority rights.
In a speech this week, Rivlin said, “The formulators of the [Israeli] Declaration of Independence, with much wisdom, insisted the Arab communities in Israel, as well as other groups, should not feel as the Jews had felt in exile.”
In its own press statement, the ADL noted, “It is troubling that some have sought to use the political process to promote an extreme agenda which could be viewed as an attempt to subsume Israel’s democratic character in favor of its Jewish one.”
These sentiments would be true any time. They are even more pressing now, as tensions in Jerusalem and across Israel strain to the breaking point. A spate of Palestinian terror attacks, several committed by Arab Jerusalemites, point up the ethnic volatility from within Israel proper.
Critics claim that by pushing the bill, Netanyahu is cynically shoring up his political right flank in preparation for early elections in March. Politicians are known to play such games. But even if Netanyahu is sincere, we agree with AJC spokesman Kenneth Bandler that this bill is “ill-conceived and ill-timed.”
We urge the Knesset to respect the balance between Israel’s Jewish and democratic character and reject this bill.