The Knesset passed early Thursday a racist bill that officially defines Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people and asserts that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country (the 1948 occupied Palestinian territory).
62 lawmakers voted in favor of the legislation and 55 opposed it. Knesset members Benny Begin (Likud) and Orly Levy-Abekasis abstained.
Arab lawmakers who condemned the law as “racist” and “apartheid” shouted and ripped up papers after the vote prompting Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to order their removal from the plenum.
“This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel” Netanyahu told the Knesset after the vote.
This nation-state law stipulates that “Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it”.
The racist law also includes clauses stating that a “united Jerusalem” is the capital of Israel and that Hebrew is the country’s official language.
Another clause says that “the state sees the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.”
The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew downgrading it to a “special status” that allows its continued use within Israeli institutions.
