News / Palestine

Israeli minister calls ‘hasty’ adoption of ‘nation-state’ law ‘a mistake’

Thursday, 26 July 2018 6:14 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 26 July 2018 6:25 PM ]

Demonstrators attend a rally to protest against the “Jewish nation-state” law in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli finance minister says the hasty adoption of the law defining Israel as a “state” exclusively for Jews has been a “mistake” that needs to be corrected, as opposition to the apartheid measure gains momentum even inside the Tel Aviv-occupied territories.

On Thursday, Moshe Kahlon became the second minister in the Israeli cabinet to suggest amendments to the so-called “Jewish nation-state” law, which was passed by the regime's parliament (Knesset) last week.

“The legislation was done hastily,” Kahlon told Army Radio, adding, “We made a mistake and we need to fix it.”

Besides officially designating Israel as a “state” exclusively for the Jews, the law defines occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of Israel, downgrades the status of the Arabic language and encourages the promotion of the regime’s settlements — which have been built on occupied land and thus viewed as unlawful by the world community.

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The minister further said the law needed to be tailored in favor of Israel’s Druze people, an ethnic minority among the Arabs who account for nearly 21 percent of the Israeli population.

Kahlon, however, made no mention of the rights of the rest of the Arab population or Christians in the occupied territories.

Earlier, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Benett, a strong advocate of the law, said he had belatedly realized that the measure hurt the feelings of the Druze community, adding that the regime had the “responsibility of finding a way to repair the rift.”

All Palestinian groups in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip -- along with the UN and the EU -- have blasted the racist law, which has sparked mass protests in the Israeli-occupied territories.

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Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with ministers and Knesset members for talks on the Druze community’s outcry against the law. No agreement was, however, reached on the issue, according to Israeli media.

Over the weekend, Israeli Druze leaders, including three Knesset members, lodged a petition against the law with the High Court of Justice, arguing that it discriminated against the country’s minorities.

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