MK Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union List/Labor Party) said he is resigning from the Knesset effective immediately and will not be running for a spot on his party’s list in the next election as an act of protest against the racist nation-state law.
Bahloul announced his resignation on an Israeli TV show saying the current Knesset is the most dangerous parliament Israel has had and that he intends to continue making a difference from outside the legislature.
“This is a painful moment. If I’m giving up it means all hope is lost. The Knesset has become the private estate of Netanyahu and his cohorts” Bahloul said.
“I was burned I cannot remain silent anymore and it’s better for me to escape before this ship sinks. It may still remain above water but I won’t be on it” Bahloul affirmed.
Recently the Knesset passed 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.
The 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.
