http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/world/middleeast/israeli-cabinet-backs-nationality-bill-that-risks-wider-rift-with-arab-minority.html?_r=0
Israeli Cabinet Backs Controversial Nationality Bill
New York Times-8 minutes ago
JERUSALEM — The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved contentious draft legislation that emphasizes Israel's Jewish character above its ...
JERUSALEM — The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved contentious draft legislation that emphasizes Israel’s
Jewish character above its democratic nature in a move that critics
said could undermine the fragile relationship with the country’s Arab
minority at a time of heightened tensions.
The
promotion of a so-called nationality law has long stirred fierce debate
inside Israel, where opponents fear that any legislation that gives
pre-eminence to Israel’s Jewishness could lead to an internal rift as
well as damage Israel’s relations with Jews in other countries and with
the country’s international allies.
The
vote on Sunday also highlighted political fissures within the governing
coalition amid increasing talk of early elections. The bill, a proposal
for a basic law titled “Israel, the Nation-State of the Jewish People,”
passed 14 to 6, with two centrist coalition parties opposing it.
Parliament still has to approve the bill for it to become a law.
Answering
critics who have questioned why such legislation is necessary 66 years
after the foundation of the state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the push for legislation.
“There
are many who are challenging Israel’s character as the national state
of the Jewish people,” he said before the cabinet vote. “The Palestinians refuse to recognize this and there is also opposition from within.”
He
added, “There are those — including those who deny our national rights —
who would like to establish autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev,”
referring to areas of Israel with large concentrations of Arab citizens,
who make up more than 20 percent of the population..............
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