The Knesset approved initially on Wednesday the so-called nationality law or the Jewish state law proposed by right-wing MK Avi Dichter from Likud party.
The law passed its initial reading by a majority of 48 to 41 and will be transferred to the Knesset constitution and law committee to be drafted for vote in its first reading.
The law legislates Israel’s status as the national home of the Jewish people emphasizes that Hebrew is the official language of the state and states that (Occupied) Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
During a heated Knesset session Knesset members from the Joint Arab List were removed from the plenum. MK Jamal Zahalka angrily tore up the law and was removed from the plenum after calling Dichter a “fascist and racist.”
