Following a stormy meeting, the cabinet voted 14 to six in favor of the proposal, with ministers from the two centrist parties -- HaTnuah led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yesh Atid of Finance Minister Yair Lapid -- voting against, media reports said.
The draft legislation still needs to be approved in parliament to become a law, but the government’s decision looks to further escalate tensions with Arab Israelis and Palestinians. It could also destabilize Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government due to the fierce opposition of two of his more centrist partners.
The bill calls for recognizing Israel’s Jewish character, institutionalizing Jewish law as an inspiration for legislation, and delisting Arabic as an official language. Opponents say the bill undermines Israel’s democratic character, and rights groups have called it racist, the Associated Press reported.
- Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population and strongly oppose the bill.
“Democracy guarantees that all citizens have the same rights and are equal before the state but this racist change introduces a distinction on the basis of religion,” he said.
- Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, the government’s legal adviser, has also criticized the proposal, saying it weakens the state’s democratic character.
Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel’s Open University, predicted that a final version of the text is likely to be more moderate.
“This is a political charade. Netanyahu knows that voting on an unacceptable bill which has been criticized by the government’s legal adviser is extremely problematic,” he told AFP.
“The text proposed by Netanyahu is more moderate but it is still problematic because he disassociates the Jewish character from the democratic character of the state and this institutionalizes a hierarchy between them, to the detriment of democracy.”
[english.alarabiya.net With AFP]
23/11/14
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The coalition reached a compromise Monday by which a Knesset vote on the "Jewish state bill" scheduled for Wednesday will be delayed by a week....
ReplyDeleteThe vote has caused a crisis within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, with Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni vowing not to vote in favor of the bill despite the cabinet's approval of the measure on Sunday.
During the heated discussion of the bill in the cabinet on Sunday, Livni said to Netanyahu: “The elephant in the room is that you want us” – Hatnua and Yesh Atid – “to vote against this so you can fire us.”
If a minister votes against government policy, it is akin to him or her resigning, and the prime minister can fire him or her.
The three proposed versions of Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People – which were authorized by the coalition with 15 in favor and six opposed – declare Israel to be the site of self-determination exclusively for the Jewish people. Netanyahu’s version avoids some of the more controversial sections of the two similar private member bills, such as the status of Arabic or settlement construction.........http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Vote-on-Jewish-state-bill-to-be-delayed-until-next-week-382679
24/11/14
Les Palestiniens condamnent le projet de loi renforçant le caractère "juif" d'Israël ...
ReplyDeleteLes dirigeants palestiniens ont condamné mardi un projet de loi israélien controversé visant à renforcer le caractère juif de l'Etat hébreu, y voyant une tentative de "tuer la solution à deux Etats" israélien et palestinien. Le gouvernement israélien a voté dimanche en faveur de ce texte qui sera prochainement soumis au vote du Parlement et propose de ne plus définir Israël comme un Etat "juif et démocratique" mais comme "l'Etat national du peuple juif".
L'Organisation de libération de la Palestine (OLP) a "fermement condamné" ce texte l'accusant de "viser à tuer la solution à deux Etats, en imposant le projet de 'Grand Israël' et la judéité de l'Etat sur le sol de la Palestine historique". En faisant de la judéité la définition de cet Etat, "ce projet de loi met fin unilatéralement à la reconnaissance réciproque conclue en 1993", lors des accords d'Oslo sur l'autonomie des Palestiniens, poursuit l'OLP. L'OLP estime que, s'il est voté, ce texte qui suscite la polémique au sein même du gouvernement Netanyahu mettrait fin au droit au retour des réfugiés palestiniens, ayant fui leur terre depuis la création en 1948 de l'Etat d'Israël, et exonèrerait "l'occupation de sa responsabilité dans la tragédie humaine et les crimes historiques contre les réfugiés palestiniens".....................http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/international/1145022/les-palestiniens-condamnent-le-projet-de-loi-renforcant-le-caractere-juif-d-israel
25/11/14